Embers
by Paint-The-World-Mad
Summary: "Midoriya Izuku was the only person who could get close to him. Katsuki Hated that." Or, Midoriya Izuku is a normal boy, born with a perfect combination of his parents' quirks and he'll be damned if that stops him from becoming a hero. given that he has literally the most impractical fire quirk in existence (probably), that might be a little tricky.
1. The One with the Sludge Villain

Midoriya Izuku was the only person who could get close to him.

Katsuki _hated_ that.

...

"Hey Deku." He slams his hands onto Midoriya's desk. The smaller boy startles from where he had been packing his book bag, spinning to look at Katsuki with large, frightened eyes.

"Kacchan! Did you—"

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" he spits. His quirk itches against the palms of his hands, but he doesn't allow the explosion to ignite.

"I'm uh, packing my bag?" Deku squeaks, pressing himself as far back into his chair as he can.

 _Midoriya, you wanted to go to Yuuei too, didn't you?_

Pathetic.

"Stop fucking following me!" He snarls, feeling the familiar tug of the scar tissue on his cheek. "I can't do anything without you being right fucking there!"

"Sorry—!"

"Don't apologize to me! I was supposed to be the only one from this shitty junior high to get into Yuuei. You don't get to piggy back off me like you do for every-fucking-thing else!" A small explosion lights between Katsuki's hands and the desk, and for a moment the world stops. But Midoriya is too distracted to activate his quirk, and Katsuki silently thanks whatever God there is for that.

Midoriya does wince at the sound, though. "Kacchan, I don't—I wasn't—!"

"You can't even use your damn quirk without me." Katsuki presses closer into Midoriya's space, hands still firmly planted on his desk. "You'll never make it in without me, and I'll be damned if I'm caught anywhere near you." He straightens up suddenly, grabbing Midoriya's notebook in his hand as he stands.

 _Hero Analysis for the Future No. 13._ Deku is such a fucking nerd.

"I'm better than you," Katsuki spits. "It doesn't matter what you try, I won't let you near me, and I will win." He has to be quick about this.

Deku is standing, hand outstretched when Katsuki lights an explosion in the hand holding the notebook. Sure enough, the fire is gone from his hand as soon as it appears. He snarls. The paper is decently singed, but the weight in the pit of his stomach is still there.

Deku lunges at him, the fire from Katsuki's explosion suspended over his hand. He steps back, pushing against Deku's chest to unbalance him, before making a break for the window and throwing the notebook out and into the koi pond in the courtyard.

"Kacchan!" Even without looking, he can hear the tears in Midoriya's voice.

He forces himself to turn around. His own flames still dance between Midoriya's fingers, and he tears his eyes away to throw his chin into the air. "You won't use it against me," he says. "You can't."

He watches Midoriya bite his lip and one of his hands curls into a tight fist (the other still plays idly with the flame, and he forces himself not to look). He is shaking, and Katsuki knows he has won.

"Sure, take the entrance exam. It'll prove just how useless you are without me." Katsuki turns on his heel toward the door, leaving a quaking, crying Deku in the classroom.

As soon as he is in the twisting maze of hallways, sure that Deku won't come running after him; Katsuki feels the tension drop from his shoulders. Tears prick in the corners of his eyes, and he bites his tongue to push them away. The scar tissue on his cheek pulls almost painfully (if he was still capable of feeling it) and he brings his hand up to run his fingers over the malformed skin.

It has been six years since Midoriya had turned his own quirk against him.

Some part of him is still terrified it will happen again.

…

Izuku doesn't watch Kacchan walk out of the room. He stares hard at the little ball of fire in his hand, and watches it flicker between his fingers. He knows he's crying, but this isn't new. For someone with a fire quirk, he sure does cry a lot. He almost laughs at the thought, and wipes his nose on the back of his hand.

He is the only one left in the classroom, and Kacchan is probably out of the building by now. Or pretty close, at least. He sighs, and the flame flickers, but doesn't go out.

"What am I supposed to do with you, huh?" he asks.

It doesn't respond.

"Figures." He squints, and blows on the flame. It flickers and grows under his breath, shrinking back to its original size when he stops. "Guess you're coming outside with me," He mumbles, grabbing his book bag and throwing it over one shoulder, careful not to let the obnoxious little flame get to close to anything.

"All things considered, that could have gone a lot worse." His footsteps echo in the empty hallways. "I mean, he didn't try to attack me, and I managed to snatch you up before he burnt my book too badly." He winces when the flame brushes his ring finger. He must have gotten careless. "That's not very nice, you know. Burning me." He scowls at the little fire in his palm.

It doesn't respond.

Izuku sighs.

"He's right, you know. Well, kind of right. I can't work on my own. I am useless without him. " he feels the burning at the back of this throat again, and tries desperately to fight it down. The flame flickers against his breath and Izuku scowls at it. "And you! You're not helping."

The afternoon sun is bright, and Izuku squints against it, nearly losing his delicate control over the small flame (not small enough that he can just _blow it out_ though). He stops by the first decorative pond and lowers his hand into the water, watching the flame sizzle out. He shakes the water off his hand before jogging over to the koi pond beneath his classroom's window.

His notebook is floating (thankfully) on the surface of the water. He rescues it from the few curious fish that are nibbling at the corners and it drips with water as he pulls it up. He curses under his breath. Drying paper is the _worst_ task. Maybe if he had held onto that flame he could try drying it a little faster, but of course he hadn't thought that far ahead. He does have a few hours before he needs to be home, though, so he can sacrifice a couple minutes and let the sun work its magic.

Careful not to rip the (very, very) wet paper, he opens the book and lays it out on the hot stone around the pond (the ink hasn't run everywhere _thank the heavens_ ). He drops his backpack to the ground between his feet and sits down.

The news is relatively quiet—a couple of skirmishes, something about a guy with a slime quirk trying to steal a woman's purse. He switches to the hero forums. It looks like Mount Lady's debut earlier this week is kicking off wonderfully, people love her. Granted, half of the comments are about her "shapely physique" and nice face. While it is twice as bad for female heroes, Izuku knows that a large part of a hero's popularity comes from appearance.

Which is why he knows he had to be twice as cool as everyone else if he's going to be a great hero—either that or he's going to have to have some kind of wicked mask. Izuku knows he is kind of plain. Not unattractive per say, but his wild green curls and round face aren't anything to gawk at. That's not to mention the twisting, red burn scars that cover his hands and forearms. Perks of having a fire quirk, he muses, turning a few pages in his notebook to give them a chance to dry.

His quirk is… well in some way most quirks are impractical, aren't they? They're not supposed to be functional super powers like old comic books wanted them to be. They just are, and it's people who can use them well that turn them into super powers. He knows this, and yet he can't help but think his quirk is especially impractical.

In one of their first biology classes they had a unit on quirk genetics. Because quirks are, at their heart, mutations, it isn't unusual for a child to manifest a quirk that is completely different from either parent. But quirks are genetic mutations, which means they are usually hereditary. Sometimes the child inherits the same—or a similar—quirk as one of their parents (Kacchan and his mother comes to mind), and sometimes the two parental quirks combine in the child, making something new.

His mother can draw small objects to her, and his father can breathe fire.

So naturally, Izuku can draw fire to him.

Izuku's quirk… well it's everything his four-year-old self would have wanted. It's cool. Any type of manipulation quirk is cool, and it earns him a lot of awed looks. But it doesn't afford him a lot of benefits, either. Literally all he can do is pull fire toward him. There is only a pull motion, no means of stalling or hovering, and certainly no "push" function. He can't make fire like Kacchan can (or Endeavor, for that matter. When he found out he had a fire quirk he was so excited to be like the Flame Hero, but alas). He doesn't even have a means of extinguishing whatever fire he can collect. And—save for his lips and the inside of his mouth (thanks Dad)—his skin is still as susceptible to burns as everyone else. It made the first few years a nightmare, to put it lightly.

There is some buzz on the forums about how All Might hasn't been seen around the Tokyo area in a few days. A few of his friends are speculating that he has been sent on some kind of covert mission.

 **ProfessionalYike: is he even capable of being stealthy tho**

 **ProfessionalYike: like come on**

 **ProfessionalYike: this is** _ **All Might**_ **we're talking about**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yeah but I s2g he's gettin sneakier**

 **CrimmsonRiott: BestJeanass you live in Tokyo when was the last time u saw AM getting his grocieries**

 **BestJeanass: dontf uckn drag me into this uhhhhhh**

 **BestJeanass: oh shit**

 **BestJeanass: come 2 think of it I've never seen him doing mundane shit.**

Izuku frowns. He turns another few pages in his notebook (it's almost dry enough) and pulls up YouTube. A quick search later and he's jumping into the chat.

 **Small_Might: There's tons of videos on YT of him the laundromat or wtv but theyre all 6+ years old**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ayyyy trust deku to know whats up**

 **ProfessionalYike: where does he go, then? He's a fucking mountain he can't hide**

 **Small_Might: idfk m8**

 **BestJeanass: helpful as always**

 **Small_Might: I live to serve**

He pockets his phone and stands, stretching until his back pops. The quickly-wrinkling pages of the notebook are still damp, so he opts to just carry it. Izuku loves his tacky yellow backpack, but he doesn't trust it as far as he can throw it.

The path home is familiar. The shortest route happens to cut through a lot of back neighborhoods—the loudest part is through an underpass, for heaven's sake—so it's a perfect, quiet environment. That is, he can talk out loud to himself without bugging anyone. _Ideal._

On top of that, he can practically walk it with his eyes closed, so he can't really be blamed for being distracted, can he? He is just so lost in his own head that he doesn't hear the wet slurping sound of something coming through the manhole behind him.

Or, he does hear it, but too little too late.

"You won't mind if I borrow your skin for a little, will you boy?" the thing grins—if it can be called a grin at all. Its mouth drips with dark green slime, and its yellow eyes swim through its gelatinous body.

Izuku turns to run, a scream curdling in his throat. But, as always, it's too little too late. The slime monster is on him before he can make a sound. It lifts him off the ground, thrashing, but his desperate fingers find little purchase in the villain's liquid body.

"This will only hurt for a minute," the villain practically giggles, forcing a liquid tendril down his throat. "And then it will all be over for you!"

Izuku tries to scream above the villain's giddy giggles, but he doesn't have the air, he doesn't— . His vision begins to swim, a black haze creeping around his line of sight. He pulls desperately on his quirk—if the villain is liquid then he will be weak to fire, right? _Right?_

Nothing comes. He pulls with all his fading strength but nothing comes. The tears already welling in his eyes spill over. He has a fire quirk! A perfect match to a villain like this and he can't even use it, and now he's going to die because of it.

Oh god. He is going to die.

He's going to die, and he never got to tell Mom goodbye. His movements are sluggish. He can't fight much longer. His eyes are unfocused, and he closes them, squeezing out a tearful apology to whoever would miss him.

"Ah! There you are, Villain." Izuku can't quite hear the new voice through the sludge in his ears. There is a yell (from far… far away) and he slips into the waiting arms of unconsciousness.

A wind, stronger than any he's ever felt, whips over his body, ripping the sludge from his lungs, and he gasps, choking and coughing. He doesn't register that he is falling until two strong arms catch him moments before he hits the ground. They set him on his feet, but Izuku still feels hands on his shoulders, keeping him upright and he unconsciously leans into them. He tries to blink the tunnel vision away, his chest still heaving with every breath (he will never take air for granted ever again). Slowly, his vision clears and he looks up from his feet into the face of his savior.

"Are you okay, my boy?"

His brain short-circuits. "All—All Might!" He instinctively throws his hands in front of his chest, and he knows he is gesticulating wildly, but heaven help him _All Might_ is right here. "I'm fine! Well actually I was nearly suffocated by that guy, but you seem to have taken care of him, thank you, by the way. Thank you! I was trying to get out but it wasn't really working and what are you doing here, anyway? You're based in Tokyo! Unless you haven't been seen in Tokyo lately because you've been here? In any case I'm just so glad you showed up." He squeaks as All Might laughs and claps him again on the shoulder.

"A nervous talker, eh?" Izuku nods sheepishly (or as sheepish as he can be, with his eyes still owlishly wide). All Might laughs again and Izuku is going to be hearing that sound for the rest of his life. He'd bottle it up if he could. Play it on repeat in his headphones as he falls asleep. Blast it at Kacchan whenever he comes too close. If only. All Might is talking again and _shit_ Izuku has been so caught up in his own thoughts that he hasn't heard a word of it.

"Well, I'll be off!" All Might grins, lightly smacking the sludge guy, who glares at him from the inside of the two plastic bottles. "Gotta turn this fella into the police, after all."

"Wait!" Izuku snaps out of his daze and tumbles forward, accidentally smacking All Might in the leg with his outstretched hand. The sludge villain glares at him from his tiny plastic prison. "Can I get your autograph?"

"Already done, my boy! Stay out of trouble now!"

"I—I will! Thank you again!" Izuku calls, but All Might has already jumped into the air. The windy backlash catches him full in the face and he stumbles backwards, nearly stepping on his notebook. Sure enough, the open page is covered in All Might's large, distinctive signature. Too bad it's this book, which is going to be permanently warped by water. Maybe it'll add charm.

He doesn't realize that he's trembling until he picks the notebook up and tries to close it. It makes sense. He had just nearly died. That probably isn't going to process for a few more hours. Clutching the notebook to his chest, he sits down with his back to a nearby tree.

 **Small_Might: ProffesionalYike BestJeanass CrimmsonRiott I found All Might**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you WHA T**

 **ProfessionalYike: Well you can't just leave us with that**

 **Small_Might: eyeah yeah I'm still tryn to process**

 **Small_Might: cuz I almost got killed by this slime guy**

 **Small_Might: but then All Might showed up and saved me**

 **Small_Might: so I'm not dead! And also AM signed my notebook? and I'm 80% he cradled me in his arms but I was kinda dying so im not really sure**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Bro are you okay?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I can't even - WOW**

 **BestJeanass: that's a fuckin tale if I ever heard one**

 **ProfessionalYike: his strong beefy arms…..what I wouldn't give….**

 **CrimmsonRiot: oi knock it off our boy almost died**

 **Small_Might: yeah have some sympaty**

 **Small_Might: *sympathy. Im still shaking a;slaiasoijaljg**

 **Small_Might: I asked him while he was here and not in Tokyo.**

 **BestJeanass: and?**

 **BestJeanass: I'm dyin here bro wut he doin**

 **Small_Might: I think he answered me but I was too busy being starstruck to hear what he said**

 **Small_Might: sry**

 **CrimmsonRiott: bro its k**

 **ProfessionalYike: Yeah it's not like we expected anything less from you, the ultimate fanboy**

 **BestJeanass: so r we still thinking hes on some covert mission or other?**

 **BestJeanass: do we need to keep this on the ~down low~**

 **Small_Might: ? Mabye? H'es taking slime guy to the police so maybe not?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: well keep us updated bro**

 **CrimmsonRiott: and go take a nap smh u need a cookie my friend**

Izuku snorts. He does need a cookie. Or at least, a cookie would be really nice right now. Maybe when he gets home he can bake some before practice? What time is it? He groans and looks at his phone's clock again. He still has time, but he will probably have to enlist his mom's help if he does want cookies before he has to leave.

He isn't shaking nearly so bad now, it will probably be safe to stand up. Aaand he immediately regrets that decision. Bracing his hands on his knees while he waits for the tunnel vision to fade, he feels the familiar tremor return—not to his limbs, but to his core. Like his ribcage is quivering. It isn't a pleasant feeling, and he prays it will fade soon enough.

A large explosive noise crashes into his train of thought and he spins around to find the source. His eyes widen as he sees the plume of dark smoke climbing into the sky. No rest for the wicked, eh? Looks like cookies are going to have to wait.

Clutching his notebook to his chest, he starts to move toward the commotion. His walk turns into a run, and soon he is sprinting into town. The air becomes thicker with smoke the closer he gets, and his still-weak lungs protest, leaving him coughing.

If All Might is in town, maybe he will be here to sort things out? That would be awesome! And even if he doesn't show up there are lots of other heroes in the area that he still could use more notes on (he can always use more notes on everyone).

The actual scene is significantly less under-control than he expected, considering it took him nearly 6 minutes to run there. On top of that, a crowd has already gathered and Izuku is far too short to see anything that is happening. "Excuse me, what's going on?" he asks, hoping to grab the attention of one of the nearby spectators.

Thankfully, someone hears him. "There's some guy with a slime quirk holding a middle schooler hostage. The pros can't get close without hurting the kid, or none of their quirks are effective. Anyhow, we're kinda at a standstill."

A slime quirk? There's another person with one? He fights the panic rising in his throat. "What was the explosion earlier?" If the guy has a slime quirk why is everything on fire?

"The kid he's got has some kind of explosion quirk I think." The guy says, rocking on his feet trying to get a better view. "He's making everything really difficult, actually."

"Th—thanks I've got to, I've got to go," Izuku stammers, scampering away. He skirts the edge of the crowd, blood roaring in his ears. He has to find a way to get in. This is Kacchan, it has to be. They have Kacchan.

The crowd is thinner here, near the wall bordering the alley. Izuku stops near a tall, gaunt man with wild blond hair and jumps, hoping to see past the crowd.

He does.

It isn't something he wanted to see.

Unbidden, tears well in his eyes and he claps his hand over his mouth to stifle the sob that rips through his throat. "No." someone in front of him shifts, and he now has a full view of the dark, mossy green sludge villain with its rolling yellow eyes and its maniacal grin. "No. I thought—he was—All Might—" The villain swirls and moves and strains around the small, thrashing body it holds captive.

If Izuku had been looking, he would have seen the blond man look down at him with something like recognition—and dawning horror—flashing in his eyes. But he isn't looking. He doesn't see how the man grimaces and clutches his side, his grip on the light post tightening until his knuckles go white.

He does see Kacchan's wild eyes searching for something, Izuku doesn't know what. He does know that those eyes met his, and in them he sees fear. Fear is not something he wants to see in his friend's (can he even call Bakugo a friend?) eyes. It is something he has caught glimpses of now and again, but it has been six years since he had seen Kacchan this overcome with fear.

"No no no I have to do something! I have to—" He must have knocked the soda bottles loose when he crashed into All Might asking for his autograph. The second time he's seen Kacchan scared and of course it's his fault again.

"Young man, I don't know what you're thinking, but the pros can handle it." Izuku finally looks up into the skeletal face of the man next to him. The tears brimming in his eyes finally spill over (something the man is not expecting).

"Here watch my bag please I'm sorry I'm so sorry," Izuku says, dropping his bag at the man's feet before turning and sprinting through the crowd toward Kacchan.

He is through the safety line the pros made before he has a chance to think. The strike of each foot against the ground sends reverberations through his body and someone is yelling at him but he can't hear the words over the sound of his own heart in his ears. He spins past a fire before he realizes he has no plan.

Wait.

There are fires here! He nearly sobs in relief. He isn't useless. He can _do_ something.

His quirk (lovingly named "fire pull" by his mother) can only pull fire toward him. There is no power in him to push fire away or direct it, but that doesn't mean he can't trick it. The first time he "propelled" fire anywhere he had been eight years old and it had caused a horrible accident that he regrets to this day. It would be another two years before he had any semblance of control over where he could "throw" the flames. Even now, six years later, he only can really control small amounts of fire with any kind of confidence.

That being said, the amount of fire he is now pulling to himself is no laughing matter. It is no candle flame that he can pull between his fingers to watch it dance. It is not a small handful of fire stolen from one of Kacchan's explosions that he can comfortably spread between his fingers or even slingshot across a room if he wants. This is several bonfires that could consume him if given the chance.

He pulls at all the fires behind him, his quirk tugging until he feels the air behind him get hot. He could probably get the best propulsion if he starts low, so he pulls the fire toward his knees. The fire runs on the ground after him like a blazing trail, licking at his heels and threatening to burn.

"Kacchan!" Izuku is almost close enough to touch the slime villain, and one of its rolling yellow eyes sees him and glares. "Duck!" He stops running and throws his hand in the air toward the slime villain's eyes and what he hopes is its head.

And then he _pulls._

More specifically, he yanks the fire toward the very tips of his outstretched fingers. He feels the fire rushing over his back and he ducks his head, muffling a cry of pain when a tendril brushes too close to his neck. Just as the first of the flames reaches his fingers he stops pulling and drops to the ground, rolling away from where the fire, lost in its own swirling momentum, continues upward and tears into the oozing flesh of the sludge monster.

Izuku watches from his position, crouched low to the ground, as the villain howls and Bakugo breaks free from its hold long enough to gasp, and cough, and _breathe._

And he almost cries with relief but then it has him again. One of its eyes is rolling dead on the ground as proof that Izuku had done any damage at all, but it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough and now Kacchan is suffocating again and he wasn't enough.

He pushes himself onto shaking feet and reaches again for the fire but it's all wrong. It's all in the wrong directions and if he pulls it to him now he'll hit Kacchan. He has to move, get to another side and somehow get enough momentum to push that much fire at the villain again.

His limbs are heavy. He forces himself to take a step, to move to another place in the alley where he can get some kind of advantage.

Thick, cold tendrils of slime wrap around his wrists and ankles, locking him into place and dragging him toward the swirling mass of sludge. Distantly, he hears himself scream. He's still in the wrong place—the fire would hit Kacchan. He would just as soon hurt him as he would the sludge villain and he can't. Not again.

Izuku's fingers rake uselessly through the slime as he tries to claw himself free. It's no use. All the work All Might had done to save him, and here he is getting himself and his classmate killed by the very same villain.

Suddenly All Might is there and he yells something that Izuku doesn't quite hear and then all he can feel is the wind as it rips through his hair and around his skin.

…

"That was a really stupid thing you did. You could have gotten seriously hurt."

Izuku nods and tugs the blanket he was given tighter around himself. His legs kick absently from where he sits in the back of an ambulance. Kacchan is being fussed over by a small team of paramedics across the way. There's burn cream and gauze on the burn on his neck, but other than that Izuku wasn't seriously injured so here he is, being scolded by a man in a tan trench coat with short, dark hair.

"And I don't want to scold you too much because the whole thing must have been traumatizing, especially with what All Might told us." The man sighs. "But that was still horribly reckless. And we're all immensely grateful to you."

Izuku looks up sharply, his mouth hanging slightly agape. He starts to splutter something, but the man laughs and cuts him off.

"Don't look so surprised. If you hadn't stepped in, your friend would probably be in significantly worse condition." He gestures to where Kacchan is sitting. "I'm not saying it was a smart, or hell, even legal, thing to do, but for what it's worth, we're glad you did it." Izuku looks down at his feet again and the man pats him lightly on the shoulder. "Just take better care of yourself in the future, okay?"

Izuku nods and almost misses when All Might, of all people, walks up to him.

"Tsukauchi!" he isn't quite yelling, but Izuku is quickly realizing that All Might's default voice is pretty close to a yell. "I hope you have not been scolding the boy too much."

The man—Tsukauchi—forces a laugh, and Izuku misses the worried glance he throws in All Might's direction. "Not as much as I expect his mother will."

Izuku groans and buries his face in his hands. His mother is going to be so worried about him.

"My boy," All Might says, and Izuku looks up, realizing his idol is talking to him for the second time that day. "We've met twice now under less than ideal circumstances and I haven't had the chance to learn your name."

"M—Midoriya." His voice is shaking something awful, and isn't that just the best possible impression he could make. "Midoriya Izuku."

"Midoriya, my boy, for what it's worth I think you could make a great hero."

* * *

(A/N) I'm trying my hand at a series rewrite fic! hit me up on Tumblr i'm fullmetalhearts


	2. The One with Dagobah Beach

(A/N) I forgot to mention this last chapter, but this will update every five days! thanks so much for the support!

* * *

All things said and done, Izuku is _exhausted_.

He collapses on the couch as soon as he and Mom get home, throwing his arm over his face and groaning dramatically. "Are legal things always that long?" he moans.

Mom sighs, and he knows she isn't happy with him. "Izuku." He winces at her voice. She hadn't scolded him while on scene; he knew she was more relieved that he was alright. But now they're home and he is definitely safe and he has just done something incredibly stupid.

"Mom I know what you're going to say, and I just want…" he can feel the tears welling in his eyes as he sits up to look at where Mom is standing next to the kitchen counter, looking to be very interested in her hands resting on the countertop. He swallows. "I know it was stupid. And I know it was reckless. And I'm sor—" he chokes. "I'm sorry."

"Then why?" she finally looks at him. Her eyes are red and her cheeks are wet with new and old tears. "Why, Izuku? Did you," she fumbles over her words, a fresh batch of tears spilling from her eyes. "Did you even think?"

He can only shake his head. No. No he didn't think. "But Mom the thing. The villain. It almost killed me and then it had Kacchan I couldn't just leave him there Mom, he was so scared." His voice cracks. "He was so scared Mom, I couldn't—"

And then her arms are around him and he clings to her and sobs, burying his face in the soft material of her sweater. "Izuku, darling," she says once their crying has quieted, "you are too selfless for your own good. One day I think it's going to get you hurt, so please," she pulls away from him, a hand on each of his shoulders and looks into his tear-stained face, "Please be careful. You're all I have."

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: Dude is this you?**

 **CrimmsonRiott:** **link**

 **Small_Might: ah ye partly**

 **Small_Might: Im the idiot that ran in after, not one being strangled**

 **Small_Might: I mean, the slime guy did try to murk me but that was earlier and the news doesnt know that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: bro!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: That's so manly!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: terrifying as fuck probably but I don't think I'd've been able to run in like that, let alone try n fight the guy**

 **Small_Might: a;lskfdj thanks**

He'd had to call his coaches and cancel practice. They were disappointed since competition season is in full swing, and depending on how things go in high school this might be the last year Izuku will compete, but they were understanding under the circumstances. So now Izuku has the evening off and an absurd amount of nervous energy that he doesn't know what to do with.

He rolls over on his bed to stare up at the ceiling. All Might said he could be a hero. He said that Izuku could make a great hero. Of course, going to Yuuei had always been his goal, but now it seems less like a distant goal and more like… like something attainable. Today has also been something of a wake-up call, too. Between Kacchan telling him that he is useless without him—and then that being reinforced with the whole slime villain event, Izuku knows that he has a long way to go. It just means he'll have to work twice as hard.

He glances at the clock and realizes with dismay that it's still far too early to go to bed. With a groan, he rolls off the bed and onto his feet and shuffles down the hall into the kitchen. He takes a seat at the counter and props his head up in his hands (which are entirely enveloped in the soft material of one of his favorite oversized All Might hoodies). "Hi Mom." And wow his voice is significantly sleepier than he intended. She looks up at him and smiles and ah—that's a good thing.

"Hello Izuku, how are you feeling?" the worry in her voice is very poorly disguised.

"Sleepy, but other than that I'm okay," he says, and it's true. He's been through a lot in the last 6 hours but he is okay. Mom hums and continues drying the last of the dishes. "Can we make cookies?"

His question must have surprised her, because Mom laughs and turns to look at him with an almost quizzical expression. "That sounds like a great idea, honey. Get over here and start measuring the sugar while I finish putting these away."

Izuku hops down from the barstool and grabs a large mixing bowl and the sugar tub. He should probably wait until the event is less fresh in his mother's mind, but he's been mulling this over for too long now and honestly can't bear to keep quiet for much longer.

"Hey Mom?" he says, pouring the carefully measured sugar in the bowl and snapping the lid back onto the tub.

She hums in response.

"You know how I want to apply to Yuuei?"

Izuku doesn't miss her sharp intake of breath. He freezes. It's something they have discussed, obviously, but her support of his decisions is very important to him and he's worried that she's changed her mind in the last few hours. "Yes? What about it?"

She's not objecting yet! That's a good thing. A very good thing. "I think I need to get stronger." He hears her start to protest and turns around to look at her. "My quirk is good! It's wonderful, really, but I don't really have good control of it. And today. I could have done so much more…" he shakes his head, staring hard at his feet. This isn't what he wanted to say. "I was really lucky today, Mom. Really lucky. I only burned the back of my neck but it could have been a lot worse. If I'm going to get into Yuuei—if I'm going to be a hero—I need to make sure I don't hurt myself with my own quirk, right? So I need to get stronger." He looks up at Mom, and her eyes are glistening with tears.

"Izuku…" her voice quivers and it's all he can do to keep from crying with her. "I want to disagree with you. I want to keep you home and keep you safe, but I can't." She puts down the plate she was holding and wipes her eyes on her sleeve. "I'll help you get stronger, Izuku. What can I do?"

Izuku grins and throws his arms around her. "Thank you Mom, you're the best!"

She laughs and pushes him off of her. "I know I know, make your cookies, boy."

He grabs the sugar bin from the counter and puts it away before grabbing the butter out of the fridge. "So I was thinking, I need somewhere safe to practice using my quirk, right? Somewhere where I won't put other people in danger, so it needs to be out of the way and it probably needs to be somewhere that there isn't a whole lot of flammable stuff and I probably need a lot of room to move around…"

"You'll also need somewhere where you can easily put out any fires you make," Mom says, totally unfazed by Izuku's storm of muttering.

"So somewhere open where there aren't a lot of people…" Izuku hums thoughtfully as he grabs the hand mixer to cream the butter and sugars together.

Mom cracks a couple eggs into the bowl once he turns the mixer off. "What about Dagobah beach?" she asks.

"Dagobah? Isn't that the place where everyone dumps their trash?"

Mom nods. "Get the flour, I'll mix this. And yes, it is. If you cleared an area you'd have a ring to practice and you would be close enough to the water that any fires you start won't be a big deal."

Izuku stops and stares into the middle distance, his nose wrinkling. "You're… wow. That could work."

Mom smacks him lightly on the arm, laughing. "Surprised your silly old mom could come up with a decent idea?"

Izuku laughs with her. "No, I just never would have thought of it. It's a really good idea, nobody goes to Dagobah. I'd be totally alone."

"Saturday morning I'll pick you up from practice and we can drive down there and scope it out. Does that sound good?"

Izuku grins. Nothing has ever sounded better.

…

Mom signed him up for gymnastics when he was six years old because he had (still has) far more energy than she could deal with and she hoped it would give him something to do.

Izuku _loved_ it.

He still loves it. If he wasn't so hell bent on being a hero, Izuku thinks he could try his luck at being a professional gymnast. He's no prodigy, but eight years of hard, enthusiastic work pays off. His coaches think he could be competing at a national level next year, and debut on the international stage by his senior year of high school.

This is the last year that he's sure he'll be able to compete. Next year is a little iffy, since competition season runs February through May, and by May he'll be in high school and hopefully in Yuuei's hero course, so he isn't sure how much time he'll have to give to his childhood passion. So for now he's throwing himself into practice, hoping to give the last year his best effort yet.

Not that he wasn't giving his best effort into all the other competitions, but this is different.

His best events are floor and vault (according to Chie, he was also a natural at the balance beam, but she'd said it through tears of laughter the one time she forced him to try, so he's skeptical), but if he can get the high bar routine down, he wants to try for the all-around medal in his upcoming competition. His coaches think he has a fighting chance. He's outstanding in a few of the events, and pretty good at rings and the parallel bars, and if he can manage not to botch the high bar he'll be set.

Easier said than done, he thinks from where he lies on the matt under the high bar, staring up at the ceiling. He's completely covered in chalk from all the times he's fallen trying to get this routine down. Everything hurts. He's pretty sure his hair is actually dripping with sweat. He pushes himself into a sitting position and nope—his hair is quite literally dripping.

"That was better, Midoriya, but…"

"But I still fell," Izuku hums, finishing his Okada-Sensei's sentence.

"What do you think you're doing wrong?"

"I'm not… fast enough? It's like, by the time I see the bar again it's too late and I can't catch it."

"So what are you going to do about it?" His coach pats him on the shoulder. "Take some time and think about it, you're probably too tired right now to make much a difference. You'll just end up hurting yourself."

Izuku groans as he stands up. He's probably going to be sporting a few nasty bruises, but what's new? Certainly not that. He rolls his shoulders, popping his back. He's gonna be sore too, he can feel it.

Mom is waiting outside for him when he finishes cleaning himself off and packing his bag. "Are you ready to hit the beach?"

Izuku grins. "As I'll ever be."

…

Dagobah isn't far from where they live, and they drive for maybe ten minutes before Mom pulls into a small parking lot near the overlook where the garbage starts to pile up.

"It's worse than I thought it would be," Izuku moans, climbing out of the car and staring and the literal rolling hills of garbage.

"I thought you wanted to be a hero?" Mom says. "Now come on, let's see if we can pick our way through this. I wore my good shoes and everything."

Izuku groans again for good measure, but follows his mom with more eagerness than he's felt in years. This is kind of an adventure, after all. A stinky, gross adventure, but Izuku is a teenage boy and scaling the mountains of garbage is almost making him forget how tired he is.

"Don't forget what we're here for!" Mom calls after him, laughing at his antics.

"Yeah yeah I know," he yells back, pulling himself onto the top of a rather precarious pile of metal odds and ends. He squints against the sun and scans the horizon. "I see a spot!" He yells. "There's a kind of cove over there by the ocean. Hold on," he scrambles down, careful not to dislodge anything. "I think there's a path if we go through here."

Mom follows him as he picks a path through the garbage until his feet hit the sand next to the ocean. He spreads his arms out and turns back to face Mom, who is admiring the location. "What do you think?"

She hums, hands on her hips. The area is still totally swamped in garbage, but's it's reigned in on three sides by over-large hills of garbage, and the fourth side by the ocean. It's like a little valley, and there is surprisingly little on the actual "valley floor." It shouldn't take more than a few days to clear a large enough space to work.

"I think this looks great. I can rent a trailer to hook up to the car and we can pull the garbage you move to the dump," she says.

Izuku laughs. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you roped me into this as some kind of community clean-up project."

Mom laughs with him. "Who says I didn't?" She smacks him on the shoulder. "Come on. The day is still young. I'll go rustle up a trailer and some lunch while you get started."

"We're starting now?"

"The best time to plant a tree is twenty years ago. The second best time—"

"Is today, I know I know." Izuku sighs and rolls his shoulders against the ache that's already setting in (he's going to have to ask Mom to check for bruises on his back. He beat himself up pretty good today). "Well. Let's do it!"

The sun is already far too hot and it's not quite noon. Izuku can't imagine what hell the summer months are going to bring. No matter, heat training is supposed to be good for you. Yeah sure it's the most miserable kind of training, but somebody on the internet said it was good so it must be true, right?

Actually his coaches said that too, dang.

Either way, by the time Mom gets back with the trailer and lunch he is drenched in sweat and very thankful that he hadn't decided to change out of his loose, lightweight gym clothes. Eight years of gymnastics hasn't left him lacking in the strength department, but he is quickly realizing that the muscles used for rings and the muscles needed to haul somebody's microwave across the beach are very different.

"Functional strength!" Mom yells, pumping her fist into the air when he practically collapses after dropping said microwave into the trailer. He groans, dropping his head onto the fence-like barrier edging the trailer with an audible clank that he will definitely regret later. "Oh don't be like that, Izuku. We're trying to make you into a hero, after all!"

He groans again, and Mom only laughs.

They work into the evening, and then come back on Sunday to do the same thing. By Monday morning, Izuku is sore everywhere and they have hardly made a dent in the seemingly endless piles of garbage. This is going to take a lot longer than he thought it would.

Fortunately, there are nine months until the entrance exam. That's plenty of time to get the area cleared that he wanted and practice until he is a master of his quirk.

Unfortunately, he is only human and that means he has to crawl through time in a linear (and very slow) fashion that's already leaving him disgruntled and vaguely frustrated. Too bad he can't just skip to the fun part.

Too bad.

…

The next few weeks pass in a similar fashion. School then beach then practice then homework then sleep. Sometimes he takes early morning runs down to the beach and hauls a few pieces closer to the pickup spot so he can load a full trailer as soon as Mom arrives for the afternoon.

He hurts everywhere and at first it made practice into two hours of hell, but he's slowly starting to notice a difference. His coaches are too. He can hold positions for longer. He has more power on his vault. He can finally hold a neutral face on the rings instead of looking constipated.

"I don't know what you're doing, but it's certainly paying off," his coach says, slapping him on the back as he cleans up one evening. "Keep up the good work and you'll wipe the floor with the other kids."

Izuku chuckles and mumbles a thanks, but glares at the high bar as he walks out of the building.

…

The competition is a week away and Izuku feels like he's trying to be the protagonist in two different animes. On the one hand, this is his last year in competitive gymnastics and his high bar routine is spotty at best. He's gearing up for the finale of a sports anime and his nerves are absolutely destroying him. On the other hand, he's the plucky underdog protagonist of some high school drama who's studying (all this physical stuff counts as studying, he's trying to get into _Yuuei_ after all) to get in and usurp the no. 1 place from the asshole kid who's got it made. But like, it's still the first few episodes of this anime and he can feel the tension from the mid-season arcs mounting while he's struggling through the lead up to the series finale of the other one.

A weird metaphor maybe, but he'll stand by it.

…

Competitions always leave him in a weird headspace. He knows that he doesn't tend to process things until several hours—sometimes days—after the fact (he actually didn't process the whole sludge villain event until sometime on Sunday night when he completely broke down sobbing on the beach. Luckily Mom was there and she talked him through the panic before taking him home and wrapping him in soft blankets and feeding him copious amounts of hot chocolate). So naturally, he doesn't actually register that he's at the competition until halfway through or even after it ends. He almost counts it as a blessing, since it keeps the nerves from getting to him too terribly.

Doesn't mean he's not nervous though.

A couple of his gym mates wish him luck as they all get ready in the locker room, and Izuku smiles and whishes them the same. He and Chie are the only two from their gym trying for all-around medals, and in all honesty, Izuku is very thankful he doesn't have to compete against her. Chie could wipe the floor with him any day of the week.

They file through quirk registry and Chie elbows him in the ribs. "You'll do great. Just stay out of your head. You mess up when you overthink things, so don't do it."

Izuku scoffs. "Thanks, you're really helpful."

Chie laughs and wipes fake tears from her eyes. "Speaking with you is a pleasure, as always Mr Midoriya." She sighs and readjusts her shoulder bag. "Really though. Especially with the high bar routine, stop thinking so hard." She hums. "Actually, your quirk. You can pull fire to separate parts of your body, right?"

Izuku throws her a quizzical glance. "Yes?"

"I've seen you play with candle flames on your fingers. You're just pulling the flame between your fingers right?" Izuku nods, and she continues, her glittery makeup reflecting in the bright lights of the stadium. "That's got to be a really complicated process—don't shake your head at me! There's no way it's not! Anyway, you don't think about it, do you? Not while you're doing it. Just think of it like that. Like you're pulling the bar to whatever part of your body." She punches him in the arm. "The bar is part of you just as much as all that fire is, Mr flashy-quirk."

Izuku must look like he's having some kind of crisis, because she laughs at him. "I shouldn't have said that. You're just going to overthink it now, aren't you?"

"No! I'm not—I'm just…" he splutters.

"Chill, it's fine. Go get 'em Izuku. I'll see you in the medal ceremony." Chie blows him a kiss and turns on her heel to where her friends from a different middle school gymnastics team are gathering.

He shakes his head to snap himself out of his trance and finds a place to keep his stuff while he warms up. He is going to miss Chie when he quits. Not that she would ever agree to drop contact with him. There are far too many late-night text conversations between them for that. It is going to be different once they stop seeing each other every day, though. Izuku isn't sure what her plans for high school are, but she's said that she's definitely going on in gymnastics, so they're going to have to part ways at some point.

Maybe she'll make it to the Olympics. Izuku would love to see that.

…

" _Next up, Midoriya Izuku! Fourteen years old and representing an independent gym in Musutafu, Izuku is definitely not a new face at this competition. He took gold and silver on the floor and vault last year, but this is the first time we see him competing for the all-around awards."_

" _His scores already are impressive, but his coaches have said that the high bar is a sticking point for him. We've never seen him compete in this event, but he seems to have the crowd on his side."_

…

The blood roars in his ears until he can hear nothing else. This is it. One shot to make or break him.

…

His arms are burning as he launches himself in the air. He closes his eyes, the world spinning around him. His hair whips around his face in an imaginary wind.

 _The bar is as much a part of me as a fire._

Something inside him pulls, and his hands burn as they make contact with the bar.

…

Chie jumps, throwing her fist in the air as she yells something she won't remember later. She can't stop smiling, turning to one of her school friends and shaking them.

 _He did it he did it He Did It!_

…

Izuku is grinning as he lands. His foot slips and he stumbles, barely. That'll cost him a few points, but as he rights himself and waves to the crowd, he can't bring himself to care. He practically bounces off of the mat and into the waiting arms of his coaches. They don't care that he's drenched in sweat and chalk as they hug, picking him up to swing him around. He's laughing, he knows he is, but that isn't stopping the tears from falling, either.

Chie pushes her way in and squeezes another laugh out of him.

It was far from a perfect routine, but he is still in the game.

…

He ends up getting a personal best on the vault—something that was not lightly celebrated at the time, and will certainly warrant both a gym-wide party as well as a quieter (possibly pancake themed) celebration with Mom—and it's enough to win him 1st in that event.

He performs well enough on still rings, parallel bars, and pommel horse to keep him in the all-around competition, but not well enough to place. (He's first in Floor again. It's his second consecutive win in that event, and he couldn't be happier).

He watches tearfully as Chie accepts her gold medal for the women's all-around. He really wishes he could say that he holds his composure when he is awarded bronze for the men's all-around, but he cries like a baby and saying anything other than that would be blasphemous.

His three medals hang around his neck, and he's still drying his tears when Mom runs down from the stands and congratulates him. Needless to say, the waterworks start up all over again.

It's his last middle school competition. Possibly his last competition ever. He couldn't be happier about how it turned out.

…

A week after the competition, Izuku decides the area he has cleared is large enough to start quirk training. He takes his usual morning jog down to Dagobah beach (running there had become something of a habit), but instead of pulling car doors out of the sand, he collects a decent amount of dry wood from the surrounding forest areas and builds a fire in the sand.

He stands a couple feet away from it and stares at it.

It stares back.

Where does he even start? He's supposed to be training his quirk, he knows this, but he has no idea what to do.

Biting his tongue, he holds out his hand and tries something. He assumed that he could only pull fire to him at one speed, but when he saved Kacchan from the sludge villain, he somehow managed to keep the fire behind him. It should have caught up to him and burned him long before he reached the villain. But it didn't. So maybe he can pull fire to him at different speeds?

He tugs gently on his quirk, and the fire flickers toward him briefly but doesn't come. He tries again, pulling just a little bit harder. A flame pulls away and starts dancing in the air toward him. His eyes widen. He hadn't really expected that to work. In his surprise, he loses control and the flame comes rocketing toward him.

 _No no no no shit Shit SHIT_

He spins, his arm outstretched and pulling the flames toward his fingertips. The stream of fire zips around him, and he feels the heat of the flames far too close for comfort. He releases his quirk once he's facing the fire again and his hand is pointed in that general direction. The stream of fire still whips around him, but the leading end zips past his hand and crashes into the sand next to the make-shift fire pit. The sand extinguishes the fire and Izuku is left panting, but with the beginnings of an idea brewing in his mind.

He had given momentum to the fire by spinning. He hadn't moved from this spot and he had propelled the fire with relative accuracy.

And well, Izuku is a gymnast after all.

.

Thirty minutes later Izuku is very well acquainted with the fact that sand makes an awful launch pad. There is no traction. No bounce. It absorbs everything he could put into a jump, making take-offs near impossible. Not to mention the fact that it just…slips out from under him. He has landed on his ass more times in the last half hour than he has in years.

He has a lot of work to do (and maybe he should clear a slightly bigger area? The maneuverability would be nice), but he has somewhere to start, and that's what matters.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: I saw AM today. This is surreal. Why is he still in Musutafu.**

 **ProfessionalYike: I feel like I'm living in a weird fever dream**

 **Small_Might: tell me about it**

 **Small_Might: I was scouting out a local skirmish th other day**

 **Small_Might: and he was just**

 **Small_Might: there**

 **Small_Might: BestJeanass is this how u were living**

 **BestJeanass: lol yea**

 **Small_Might: how did u live**

 **Small_Might: he waved at me and I nearly exploded on the spot**

 **ProfessionalYike: he wAVED at you?**

 **ProfessionalYike: and you didn't TELL ME?**

 **ProfessionalYike: thats it im revoking ur friend card**

 **BestJeanass: s;lakdfjaosfjaslj**

 **Small_Might: No! take me back! D:**

…

The rest of June passes in a very routine manner. Mornings are still for a jog that inevitably ends up at the beach. He'll move as much garbage as he can before he has to head home for school, and immediately after school he's at the beach moving garbage again. The area he has is big enough now, but it's kind of therapeutic in a weird way—and Izuku would be lying if he said he isn't secretly thrilled with the additional muscle mass he's gaining in the process.

He has a pretty good idea of how much he can fit in the trailer, and the time between when he finishes amassing a single load and when Mom shows up, he practices using his quirk (he bought a pair of fire-resistant gloves a while back when he burned his hand badly enough to warrant a trip to the doctor). When Mom shows up, he loads the trailer and has just enough time to run across town to the gym for practice.

Competition season is over, but that just means practices have turned to technique and conditioning, which is no less rigorous. It also means that he and Chie can work side by side for a while, which is always nice.

He takes the train home from practice and eats dinner with Mom before spending the rest of the evening doing homework.

It's exhausting, but Izuku couldn't be happier.

…

July comes with end-of-term exams, and for middle school third-years, the realization that hell season is almost upon them. Namely, High School Entrance Exam season. Technically the exams won't start for another six months, but everyone knows that studying hell will begin once fall term starts in August. It's all anyone can talk about.

"Where are you applying?" Chie asks, taking a swig from her water bottle. "I can't believe I've never asked you."

Izuku laughs. "I can't believe I've never told you. I'm applying to Yuuei." He sees Chie's eyes widen, and he rubs the back of his neck, sheepish. "I want to get into the heroics department. It's always been my dream…"

He trails off, watching Chie wave her hands wildly in the space between them. She composes herself just long enough to swallow her mouthful of water. "Yuuei?! Izuku that's so cool!" She punches him in the shoulder. "You'll be the star of the school. I can see it now," she throws an arm around his shoulder and holds her hands in front of them, fingers splayed wide. "Midoriya Izuku, rising gymnast who decided beating villains up was more important than back flipping to victory on the stadium floor."

She's cackling when Izuku pushes her off of him. "For your information, I'm gonna be back flipping to victory regardless of whether or not I become a hero," he says, grinning, which only makes her laugh harder.

Her wild laughter cuts off as she gasps, her eyes going wide. "What if _I_ go to Yuuei?" She claps her hands to either side of her face like she's found the answer to life, the universe and everything.

"I thought you didn't want to be a hero?" Izuku splutters.

"I don't!" she grabs him by the shoulders and shakes him. "I'm talking about the gymnastics here. _The gymnastics._ "

"Does Yuuei even have a gymnastics club?"

"I don't know but if not I'm going to make one. Don't give me that face, Izuku! Just imagine it!" she clasps her hands under her chin, eyes gleaming. "There are so many athletic people there, we'd be unstoppable. Roll into competitions with my Midnight leotard, snap my Gucci shades—the perfect image of intimidation—everyone is quaking in fear, All Might is there..." She sighs and wipes a fake tear. "In a perfect world."

Izuku can't help but laugh, and she glares at him. He throws his hands up in mock-surrender. "No no I totally agree that would be amazing!"

"Damn right it would!"

Izuku laughs again before their coaches call them back onto the floor.

…

It's on a Saturday evening in late July, and a week into summer break, when Izuku decides to take his quirk training to the next step. He has a pretty good grasp on it functionally, now. He can pull the fire at different speeds to different parts of his body, and his methods of propulsion are growing every day, as is his accuracy. He actually directed a stream of fire into the ground hard enough to melt some of the sand, and he stood there gawking for far too long after. His best jump-propulsion uses an aerial (essentially a cartwheel without touching your hands to the ground), where he directs the fire with his feet. The day when he had directed an entire bonfire from one fire pit to another using an aerial was an excellent day.

That being said, many of the things he can do are still impractical. Sure it's cool, and potentially useful for disaster relief, but a villain isn't going to sit around waiting for him to get enough momentum to do half the things he can do. Thus, he needs some practical way to use his quirk.

So, he spends the entire night researching (like you do).

…

Four hours of YouTube videos, eight Wikipedia pages, and who knows how many Google searches later, Izuku has an answer.

…

He stands outside the dojo (it probably isn't a dojo, considering it's Chinese. What's the word, then?) and gathers the courage to knock.

The man that answers had long, greying hair tied back in a neat bun, and a neatly trimmed salt-and-pepper beard. He narrows his eyes when he sees Izuku, obviously suspicious.

"Dài Jian'guo?" Izuku asks, desperately praying he has the right person.

"And who are you?" Dài's voice is heavily accented, and he shifts his weight so he is leaning against the doorframe.

"Midoriya Izuku, sir." Izuku bows, trying to force his hands to stop shaking.

"Mhmm, and what do you want?"

"I want you to teach me."

Dài scoffs. It's almost a laugh. "You want to learn from me? I'm an old exiled monk, I can't teach you Karate, or whatever is native to this area. I only know the Northern Shaolin techniques."

"That's why I want to learn from you," Izuku blurts, "I did a lot of research, and it all led me to you." He bows again, at the hip, hoping it conveys his sincerity. "Please sir, you're the only one who can help me."

Dài is quiet, and Izuku fears the worst.

"Midoriya Izuku, was it?" there is almost a laughter in his voice. "Stand up. I'll teach you."

…

Jian'guo-sensei is ruthless, and kung-fu is way harder than Izuku had given it credit for. He had insisted Izuku use his given name, but that doesn't mean he goes easy on Izuku in any way shape or form. Thankfully, years of gymnastics pay off in his dexterity and strength, but those are the only things he has going for him.

Kung-fu is _hard_.

But, when Izuku runs to the beach in the evenings, he finds (to his utter delight) that the moves Jian'guo-sensei is teaching him are perfect to direct the fire. With his gloves on, he can catch handfuls of fire in each hand, and even just doing warm-up stances direct that fire around his body and then away to increasingly accurate targets.

Summer passes all too quickly, and Izuku has never felt more ready to tackle the Yuuei entrance exam.

He had to quit gymnastics when he started under Jian'guo-sensei (money is tight enough already, he didn't want to burden Mom with anything else), and Chie is understandably upset with him. They go to different middle schools, so she whined about never seeing him again until he invites her to run with him in the mornings. He's never had a running partner before, and he's gotta admit, it's really quite nice. It does cut into his morning garbage-removal time, but in all honesty, he doesn't really need it anymore. If the beach gets any cleaner he knows it's going to start attracting tourists, and the whole reason he chose Dagobah is because no one goes there.

…

The start of fall term also means that he has to deal with Kacchan again, and Izuku is not ready. He's not really afraid that Kacchan will hurt him. There's not a lot he can do, and even if he just comes at Izuku with his fists Izuku now has enough training to deflect him, if nothing else. But that doesn't mean that he isn't exhausting to be around. It also doesn't mean that any of Izuku's fear responses are aware that Kacchan can't hurt him.

Honestly, that's far worse than anything Kacchan himself could throw at him. He can run from bullies forever, but there's no escaping his own mind (don't even get him started on the guilt he feels every time he sees the scar on Kacchan's face).

Kacchan seems to be pointedly ignoring him though, and Izuku thanks his lucky stars. He's more than happy to sit complacently in the back of the classroom, minding his own business.

The work is hard, and Izuku quickly falls back into the school time routine. September bleeds into October bleeds into November, and well, these entrance exams aren't going to study for themselves. Izuku isn't universally liked by the people in his middle school (far from it, in fact), but he's pleasant enough to be around and has good grades, so he finds himself sucked into a small study group. He invites Chie to join, and soon there are five or six of them that meet in the park in the afternoons to study with each other. It's fun, in a weird way. He knows that none of these people would ever speak to him under any other circumstances, but Izuku has the best grades in the class second to Kacchan and they're probably taking advantage of that.

He doesn't really mind. Leading these study groups is helping him as well, and the illusion of having so many friends is kind of nice. At least he's got Chie.

Obviously it is all too good to be true. Or at least, too good to last.

Kacchan corners him. It's Tuesday on the last week of School in December. School is out for the day, Fall term is almost over, and there's only a month until the Yuuei entrance exam.

" _Deku_." Izuku can hear the sneer in his voice before he sees it, and turns around just in time for Kacchan's signature right hook.

He stumbles backwards a few steps, rubbing his jaw. Kacchan stands over him, several inches taller and seethes, but doesn't move to attack him again.

"I know what you're doing," he spits.

Izuku blinks. "I…what?"

"Don't think I haven't seen you," Kacchan tenses like he wants to attack Izuku again, but doesn't. "We live on the same fucking street, Deku, I see you every fucking day. Training or whatever you want to call it."

Izuku opens his mouth to argue.

"Don't you dare fucking speak, shitty Deku," Kacchan hisses, stepping forward into Izuku's space. He shrinks away, out of habit, trying to make himself look as small as possible. "I don't care what you do, you'll never make it."

"You're wrong." The words slip out of Izuku's mouth before he has time to stop them. Well, too late now. Go big or go home, right? "I'm going to make it into Yuuei."

Kacchan laughs. Actually laughs. His posture relaxes and he steps back, hands strung loosely in his pockets. "Good luck with that, Deku. I don't care how much training you think you've done, you're useless without me and you know it."

He turns and saunters away, leaving Izuku biting his lip and trying not to cry.

Kacchan is right.

He's right and Izuku _hates_ that.


	3. The One with the Entrance Exam

Izuku is out of bed before six on exam day. He meets Chie for a run, hoping it will calm him down, but all her enthusiasm and pep-talks fall useless on his scattered nerves. It would probably be worse if there wasn't a large portion of his brain telling him that this isn't real, but that doesn't make the nerves non-existent, and he's still a mess when he gets off the train and walks toward the towering glass building that is Yuuei High School.

He stops under the massive archway and sucks in a deep breath. This is it. This is happening (it isn't. no way. Can't be). His first step into the Yuuei threshold is thwarted when he promptly trips over his own feet and dives face-first into the cement.

 _This is it. This is how I die._

There's a light touch on his back and somehow he never hits the ground.

"I'm so sorry! I should have asked before I used my quirk, but I didn't want you to fall!" Someone behind him says, her voice high and far too chipper, considering the circumstances.

"It's fine!" Izuku stammers. The feeling of weightlessness is honestly, very odd.

"Here, just put your feet under you, sorry I'm going to grab your arm," she says, and sure enough there's a hand on his arm, swinging him so he is mostly upright again. "And, release."

Gravity returns to him rather suddenly, and his feet hit the ground, causing him to stumble a bit. "Thanks. Is that, uh, is that your quirk?" He asks, turning to finally look at the girl. She's not much shorter than him, with light brown hair and a round face. She's really cute, honestly, and Izuku feels himself flush.

Thankfully, she doesn't notice, or just doesn't care, because she nods eagerly, and falls into step with him as they walk toward the school. "It is! I can negate the gravity on any object that I touch with all five fingers. Although, I've got kind of a weight limit, and if I go over it I get nauseous," she says, almost sheepish.

"That's so cool!" Izuku exclaims, perhaps too loudly. "Can you float any object? Can you use your quirk on more than one thing at a time?"

She laughs. "Yes and yes. Or at least, I haven't found anything yet that's immune to my quirk." She blushes, "and you think it's cool? It's a mutant quirk. My parents' quirks are nothing like it, and it's always made me feel a little weird."

"Not weird at all! It's really awesome, you'll make a great hero!"

She beams at him, before waving goodbye. "It was nice talking to you! I told someone I'd meet them here, so I'm gonna go do that, but good luck!" She practically bounces away into the crowd.

"You too!" He calls after her. Hopefully all the people here will be as nice as her.

Well. They can't _all_ be. Kacchan is around here somewhere, after all.

.

He makes his way into the school and follows the signs (and crowd, yikes there are a lot of people here to take the entrance exam) into a huge auditorium. He finds a seat next to a boy with wild purple hair and dark circles under his eyes large enough they should probably start paying rent. He doesn't look up when Izuku sits next to him, and Izuku assumes he isn't the talkative type. That's okay. They're here to take a test after all; he doesn't need to make friends with every person he sees (even if he would like to).

A few minutes later, the auditorium goes dark and Present Mic steps onto the center stage, bellowing a Hello that's loud enough that Izuku finds himself covering his ears. Mic probably wasn't even using his quirk either, judging by the shit-eating grin on his face. The boy next to him grumbles something, and Izuku can't help but agree (even if he has no idea what the guy said).

Mic explains that they'll all be assigned a classroom room to take the written portion of the exam, and then split into different groups and assigned a battle ground for the practical portion, which is only for heroics applicants. "This will be the only chance some of you have to take any kind of test inside Yuuei walls, so relish it! For the others, get used to it! You'll spend three years taking all sorts of tests here!"

Izuku giggle snorts, earning him a glare or two from the people around him.

Mic goes on to explain that the practical exam will involve fighting robots at different point values, and that they need to amass as many points as possible in ten minutes. It doesn't sound too bad, actually. Izuku knows that he can direct fire with enough force to at least dent, and sometimes blow holes in metal, so it shouldn't be terribly hard to take out a few robots.

Next to him, the purple-haired boy curses.

As they file out of the auditorium, they're all given slips of paper with a room number and a battleground and instructions that the written exam will start in twenty minutes "so go to the restroom now! We promise you'll need it."

Izuku falls into step with the purple-haired boy. He gives Izuku a weird look. "What do you want?"

That is an excellent question. Izuku shrugs. "Which room are you in?"

The boy still looks very suspicious of him, but glances down at his paper. "2-E"

"Ah darn, I'm in 2-C. They'll probably be in the same hallway, we can walk together?" Izuku lets the end of his sentence turn up, in case the boy doesn't want to walk with him. He shoves his hands into his pockets, but doesn't reject the offer. "I'm Midoriya Izuku, by the way."

"Shinsou Hitoshi," he mutters.

"Are you applying for the heroics department?" It's a fair question. They had already passed several people who were definitely support kids.

"Well, I _was_." Shinsou sounds bitter. Very bitter. "I have a psychological quirk, though. It's not going to do fucking anything against robots." He kicks the ground. "So I'm just going to get into General Studies and beat everyone at the sports festival so they have to move me up."

Izuku hums. "The practical exam really isn't fair, is it?" Shinsou snorts, and Izuku can't help but smile. "Well, I think you'll be great."

Shinsou is still looking at his feet. "Thanks, I guess. You're trying for heroics?"

"Yeah! I also applied for general studies, so if I don't pass the practical I'll see you there."

" _If_ you pass the written exam." Is Shinsou smirking at him? Oh. Shinsou is definitely smirking at him.

Izuku crosses his arms defensively. "Excuse you, sir!"

Shinsou almost laughs. "This is your stop," he says, looking up at the large "2C" next to the door. "Good luck."

"You too!" Izuku calls after him as Shinsou keeps walking down the hallway toward 2-E. He hopes everything turned out okay for him. He seems like an alright guy.

.

The written exam is, by no means, easy. But Izuku studied well, and by the end of it, he feels confident enough. Now he just has the practical test standing between him and, well, victory. High school acceptance. Whatever.

His testing group is gathering outside the battleground for the practical portion. The battle ground is basically, from what he can see from outside the huge cement walls, a small city. Probably fully functional too, knowing Yuuei. He's warming up, jogging in small circles and stretching, scanning the crowd for anyone he knows. Looks like Kacchan isn't in his group. Izuku doesn't know how to feel about that.

The girl with the gravity quirk is here, though. He never got her name… he starts walking over to where she is warming up to ask her and wish her luck, when there's a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

Izuku flinches and turns around to see a very tall, very stern-looking boy. He's probably twice the size of Izuku and he looks like he could crush him with his little pinky. Izuku swallows nervously. "I was just—"

"Can't you see that she's concentrating! Were you intending to mess her up, to reduce the competition for you?" good lord, this guy is intimidating.

Izuku shrinks. "I wasn't—I swear—"

He's cut off by Present Mic's booming voice. "The Exam has started! What are you all doing standing around for?!"

Sure enough, Izuku turns and the gates to the city have opened. Everyone around him is running and Izuku is nearly tramped before he can turn to run into the fake city.

He ends up at the back of the crowd and by the time he's past the concrete walls, most everyone has dispersed through the city. Which, speaking of, looks so much bigger from the inside. Its honestly a little intimidating.

He only realizes that he's stopped moving when someone behind him runs into his shoulder, jarring him forward a step. He blinks, shaking himself out of his trance and starts running down one of the many twisted, branching streets. How many minutes has he wasted now? One? Two? He needs to find a robot soon. Preferably several robots.

Luck must be on his side, because as he skids around a corner he comes face to face with a two-point robot. Villain. Whatever they are supposed to call them.

The point is that there is one right in front of him and it is clearly targeting him. Izuku shifts into a fighting stance and pulls on his quirk, a grin breaking out on his face.

Nothing happens.

He pulls harder, his grin turning into a pained snarl. Surely there has to be _someone_ in this group who is a fire-user. The whole point is to destroy robots, there has to be at least an electrical fire _somewhere_ in the area.

The villain is almost on him, raising one metallic arm to bring down on his head. It swings, and Izuku rolls out of the way, gritting his teeth against the tears that were fighting their way to the surface. This is no time to cry, dammit! The villain turns, targeting him again. He needs to find some way to beat this thing. Not even for the exam, just because he doesn't want to die here.

It's got to have a weak spot, but all Izuku has are his bare fists, and he knows they aren't going to do a lot against metal. He's been training under Jian'guo-sensei for about six months now and he knows that he's gotten stronger, but there's a huge difference between "I am strong for a 15-year-old boy" and "I am strong enough to punch this robot and have it do anything." Unfortunately, Izuku does not fall on the latter portion of the spectrum.

He should have just sucked it up and brought a lighter. Yeah they don't really help him, but even a tiny flame is better than nothing. Even if bringing in support items is against the rules, at least he wouldn't be facing an imminent death.

He rolls to dodge the robot as it swipes again, his knees scraping against the concrete. He's considering running (he doesn't know how fast this thing is) when a blinding white light tears through his line of sight, and the villain in front of him.

The robot clatters to the ground, revealing a blond boy sporting a flowy silk shirt and some kind of holier-than-thou smile. "Thanks for keeping it distracted for me," he says, an accent clouding his voice (French? Spanish? Izuku never was good with latin languages). He turns and runs off, and Izuku steps around the robot to run after him.

How many minutes has it been? Five? Six?

The back of his throat is still burning (it will be a while before it stops) but some part of him has resigned himself to failure. He can't help but think that if he and Bakugo were in the same testing group that this whole thing would be very different. He would stand a chance then.

Not now.

Not when he has a quirk that's dependent on other people. Kacchan is right, he's always going to be dependent on other people. Borrowing their success. A parasite.

He bites his tongue as the first few tears spill from his eyes.

This wasn't supposed to happen. He's trained so hard. Izuku eight months ago was weak and scared and could never make it into Yuuei. Now! Now he was so much stronger, and so much more confident in himself, and he had poured blood sweat and tears into finding a way to use his quirk—he was _ready._ Or, he was supposed to be. Turns out, regardless of how many fancy ways he figured out to use quirk, it's still the most useless fire quirk there is.

He breaks out of the alley he was running through to find what has to be the main street of this miniature city. It has been absolutely decimated. The sparking remains of robots litter the ground and all around him kids are taking them out like it is child's play.

In front of him, the stern guy with dark hair and glasses (and engines in his legs?) jumps and crumples a 3-point robot with his extended foot. He brushes himself off, mumbles "45" and runs off toward another active robot.

Forty Five? Izuku is further behind than he thought.

There's still not a flame in sight, so he couldn't get a point even if he hadn't resigned himself to failure. Ah well. Three minutes and one rejection letter and it'll all be over (that's what he tells himself).

The ground shakes under his feet, someone screams, and the sky goes dark.

Everyone is screaming now as the mass of people turn and run. Izuku looks up and oh good lord the picture Mic showed them of the zero-point villain really, really didn't convey the size of this thing. He has half a mind to turn and run like everyone around him, but then something catches his eye and oh. Oh he's both really happy and really unhappy that he has seen this.

The girl with the anti-gravity quirk is trapped under some rubble or a robot or something. Regardless of what it is, she can't move and she can't twist herself around to use her quirk and the huge zero-pointer is lumbering toward her and oh god she's going to get crushed.

She's going to get crushed and there's nothing Izuku can do. This isn't like when he ran in after Kacchan. This isn't a liquid-based villain surrounded by raging fires. This is a huge, hulking robot and there isn't a flame in sight. Izuku is totally powerless. He's totally powerless, but he still has to do something! He can't let her die!

The boy with the glasses and the engines in his legs is about to run past him. He's fast, his quirk is obviously built for speed, but he's not going as fast as he can and Izuku has adrenaline on his side. He catches up and grabs the boy's sleeve.

He stops (thankfully) and tries to bat Izuku's hand away. "What are you doing? Are you trying to mess me up to?" He sounds so angry and Izuku's heart is weak right now.

"There's a girl—" he points frantically toward where the zero-point villain is. "She's trapped and that thing is going to crush her. Please, you're the only one who can help!" His voice cracks and he knows he's crying again. "P-please. We can't—you can't just leave her."

The boy looks over Izuku's head, and he must see where the girl is because his eyes steel. He drops his sleeve and the boy takes off toward the zero-point villain.

Izuku is frozen to the spot, watching with horror and hope through vision blurred by tears. The boy is sprinting towards the villain. At the last second, the light from his engines glows brighter (distantly, Izuku wonders if he could pull the fire from his engines? It's worth a shot at some point) and he jumps, kicking the thing in one of its legs. The leg folds and buckles as the robot tries desperately to stay upright. The boy is already at the girl's side, pulling the rubble off of her and gathering her into his arms before running back toward where Izuku is standing.

The villain creaks and groans above them, before beginning to fall.

Forward.

It's falling toward them and clearly they have both realized this, but he is slowing down and if they don't do something quickly they will both be crushed.

Over the din, Izuku hears her yell "Throw me!" and the boy launches her into the air. She rockets upward, coming face to face with quickly toppling beast. She slaps it across the face (?) before falling back toward the ground, the robot floating gently upward.

The boy catches her in a princess carry and keeps running until he is only a few meters from where Izuku is standing. He puts her gently on the ground, minding her legs (broken?). She taps her fingers together, the robot crashes out of the sky, completely inoperable, and she promptly throws up onto the pavement.

Izuku is still frozen to the spot as Mic's booming voice announces the end of the exam. He can't take his eyes off of the scene in front of him, the boy patting her back gently as she cries and dry-heaves. Medics arrive on scene and somewhere he feels himself nodding that yes, he is fine.

He failed the entrance exam.

…

The rest of the day passes in a daze.

Sometime before he goes home the girl comes up and thanks him. "For what?"

"Iida said he wouldn't have come to rescue me if you hadn't said anything, so I wanted to thank you." She beams, even if she is still a little green in the face. "I never got your name. What is it?"

"I'm uh… Midoriya Izuku," he says.

She smiles brighter (somehow). "I'm Uraraka Ochako! I hope we're in the same class, it'll be nice to have someone as nice as you there!"

He can feel the blood rush to his face. "I didn't, uh, I didn't—"

"DEKU."

He's cut off by Kacchan, who is storming toward them. He's not sure if he's happy about this or not. Kacchan has some kind of mixed expression on his face. It's halfway between a haughty smile and a snarl, and once again, Izuku isn't sure which he'd rather it be.

He shoves a finger into Izuku's chest, and yeah that's definitely more of a smile than a snarl. "You didn't make it, did you? I knew as soon as they said it. I knew this would be perfect and you would fail." He's way too happy about this.

Izuku forces the emotion out of his face, and prays his voice will be level when he speaks. "We haven't gotten the written scores yet. I told you I would get into Yuuei, I never said I was only trying for heroics."

Kacchan is fuming. He's flexing his fingers like he wants to set off his quirk, but Izuku knows he won't. Instead, he spits on the ground and Izuku's feet and stalks away.

Izuku breathes a sigh of relief and slumps backwards into the numb buzz he's been living in since the exam ended.

"Well he sounds pleasant." He looks over to see that Uraraka has crossed her arms over her chest.

Izuku can't help but chuckle a little. "Pleasant isn't exactly the word I would use."

"Is he…?"

"Right? Yeah. I failed the practical exam, and we both kind of saw it coming."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Uraraka shuffles her feet nervously.

He shrugs. "It's fine."

"Why did he call you Deku? I thought your name was…" she doesn't want to finish the sentence, probably because she's too polite to use his first name, even in this scenario.

"It's something my friends call me. Like a nickname."

"He didn't really sound like a friend." She scowls at where Kacchan walked away. "If your friends call you Deku, can I call you Deku? Is that okay? It sounds kinda like 'you can do it!'"

Izuku smiles. "Sure!" He certainly hopes Uraraka makes it into the heroics course. She will make a wonderful hero, he just knows it.

…

Mom jumps on him when he gets home, wrapping him a hug and demanding to know how it all went. He smiles weakly and tells her the truth. That he didn't earn a single point in the practical exam, but he feels pretty hopeful about the written part. She wipes her tears and decides they're going to make katsudon tonight because "you can never go wrong with comfort food, Izuku." He follows her into the kitchen to help. Cooking with Mom has always been one of his favorite things, and maybe it'll snap him out of the dazed funk he's in.

The whole thing still hasn't processed. He knows it will eventually, and hopefully he'll be somewhere private when it does.

.

There are a few texts from Chie wishing him luck and asking him how it went. He replies with a quick "I'll tell you tomorrow? on our run" and falls asleep on the couch with his head in Mom's lap, a Ghibli movie humming quietly on the TV.

…

He wakes up in his own bed. It appears the teleporting powers he had in his youth have not evaded him (he still wonders how Mom carried him, he's several inches taller than her now). He drags himself out of bed and throws on a track suit (its cold out, even for January) and slips out of the house to meet Chie. Their Sunday runs are typically slow and easy (active rest! It's good for you), but still he hopes she goes easy on him. He's exhausted.

She's waiting for him in their Spot™. As soon as she sees him she wraps her arms around him, picking him up and spinning him in circles. He protests, but figures it isn't going to do much good, considering how much he's laughing.

When she puts him down, they both stumble a bit, grabbing each other to keep their balance, both of their faces flushed with laughter and the crisp January morning. Izuku is still laughing. "That was _unfair."_

Chie ruffles his hair. "I've got seven cm on you, idiot, obviously I'm going to capitalize on that." Izuku pouts, and she laughs. "Now! Let's get going you have a lot to tell me, mister."

They start running, and Izuku tells her everything. About the disaster that was the practical exam. How he gave up not even five minutes in. "But I was talking to one of the other kids, and if I get into General Studies then if I can do well enough at the sports festival they'll move me up to heroics. I just have to… I just—" his voice cracks and ah. There it is.

He failed the exam.

All his hard work. Every hour on that beach. Every hour with Jian'guo-sensei.

He wasted all of it.

He wasted all of it and he _failed._

"Izuku, are you…?" Chie slows and turns to see where he has stopped running and is furiously wiping tears from his face. "Oh God, Izuku. I'm going to hug you, is that alright?"

He nods, squeezing his eyes shut and clenching his jaw, hoping to make the tears stop, but it isn't working. Chie's arms are around his shoulders and she cradles a hand against the back of his head. Wrapping his arms around her waist and taking fistfuls of her jacket into his hands, he presses his face into her shoulder and sobs.

She plays gently with his curls, her nails raking across his scalp. "It's going to be okay, Izuku. You did so well. You're doing so well. They kicked you down this one time, but that just means you're going to stand up so much stronger." She rests her cheek against his head, and he is so glad that she's here.

She has seen him at his lowest, and he has seen her at hers. They've always been there to build each other up, and as Izuku sobs into her shoulder he thinks that there's no way he deserves her. But there's no one he would rather have with him right now.

They stand like that for some time, but eventually Izuku quiets and the tears dry. She holds him at arm's length and looks him in the eye. "You know I'm proud of you, right?"

He almost laughs. "I know." His voice is still rough, and he reaches up to wipe the tears off of his cheeks, pointedly not looking at the wet spots on Chie's jacket.

"Good. Because I am. And obviously it sucks that you didn't pass the whole special heroics exam, but it sounds like it's a stupid, biased exam anyway and they should fix it." (he does actually laugh at that) "All this means is you've gotta get stronger and kick so much ass that they regret ever passing you over, got it?"

"Hey Chie? What did I ever do to deserve you?"

She laughs and pulls away, ruffling his hair before taking off in a sprint away from him. "Who said you deserve me?" she cackles, and Izuku runs after her. The weight in his chest is still there, and it still hurts, but maybe a little bit less.

.

Chie's first entrance exam is a week after Yuuei's. She is a ball of jittery energy during their morning run, and Izuku wishes her well and sends her off with a smile and an encouraging punch to the shoulder.

She spams the group chat around two in the afternoon.

 **ProfessionalYike: ONE ENTRANCE EXAM DOWN**

 **ProfessionalYike: TWO TO GO**

 **ProfessionalYike: I HATE THIS**

 **BestJeanass: lmao I remember that. Sucks to suck, all you young iditos**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you can't even say that, you were a mess last year**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Small_Might deku can u pull receipts**

 **Small_Might: I can pull so many receipts**

 **Small_Might: also Chie im so proud of u**

 **CrimmsonRiott: hell yeah! You did great I know you did!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: speaking of**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I just got the results of my last ee hold the fuck up**

 **BestJeanass: where did u apply**

 **Small_Might: already? It's only been a week**

 **CrimmsonRiott: GUYS I GOT INTO YUUEI**

 **BestJeanass: HOLY FUCK**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'M SO PROUD**

 **Small_Might: HOLY SHIT REALLY? DUDE**

 **CrimmsonRiott: GUYS IM LIKE, VIBRATING I CANT STOP GRINNING IM GOING TO YUUEI IM IN HEROICS IM GOING TO EXPLODE**

 **BestJeanass: fukin understandably**

 **ProfessionalYike: Ei, I'm so proud rn :')**

 **ProfessionalYike: they grow up so fast**

Izuku closes the app and throws his phone onto his bed. They were already sending acceptance letters out? Does that mean he has to wait in agony for his rejection letter, or will they end his suffering sooner? Hopefully sooner. As happy as he is for Ei, it makes his heart ache. He just wants to get this over with. The waiting in limbo is tearing his mind apart.

Mom has work today, but she should be home soon. It's barely two-thirty and he has no idea what to do with himself. Moping around the house got old really fast.

He ends up grabbing his gloves and running down to Dagobah. He doesn't really know what he's going to do there. He spent the last week clearing the rest of the garbage so the beach is now perfectly clean. As he guessed, it has started to attract a few people.

He finds his old spot easily enough and spends a few minutes building a small fire. The cold ocean breeze whips across his face, and he shifts into his starting pose. He'll just start with a few basic routines. Clear his head.

He pulls his fists into his sides, back rigid, and then falls into the familiar steps. The fire whips around him, pulled by his hands, his feet, his hips. His hair whips in the wind, and he loses himself in the movements. It's like a dance. He is perfectly centered. Perfectly in control. There is nothing here that can disturb him. His failures cannot touch him because he is here, not there. He spins them around with his hands, and they burn in the fire around him.

He wasn't enough then, but he will be. He will be the strongest because he is here, and he is perfectly in control. He started a mile behind, but that just means he will run faster. Nothing can hold him back.

The fire sparks in the air past his eyes, and he closes his eyes to just feel the heat against his skin. He spins into an aerial and the fire follows his feet right back into the makeshift fire pit. He finally stops moving and pants, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Someone cheers, and he looks up to see a few people clapping politely, and a little boy who can't be more than five or six with his hands in the air, cheering loudly. Izuku smiles and waves, ducking his head in a shallow bow. He can feel his face heating up; he really wasn't expecting spectators.

"That was awesome!" The boy yells. "How did you do that?"

"It's uh, it's kung fu. And my quirk," Izuku says, rubbing the back of his neck.

"It's very impressive," the woman standing next to the boy (his mom?) says.

He chuckles and looks at his feet. "Thanks."

"We'll leave you be," one of the other women says. "Thanks for the show!" They all turn and walk away, leaving Izuku with his little fire and his burning cheeks.

He puts the fire out and runs back home, feeling significantly better than when he left.

Mom is waiting for him when he gets home. "Izuku!" She holds an envelope out toward him. "It's from Yuuei!"

The snappy comeback dies on his tongue as his eyes go wide. He grabs the letter and walks to his room in a daze, closing the door behind him.

He almost doesn't want to open it.

But he does.

The little metal chip falls from the envelope onto his desk, and it sparks before the holographic projection shoots out of it and a video starts playing. All-Might's face crackles through the static, and he asks if the camera is rolling a few times before it focuses and he grins (right at Izuku).

"Midoriya Izuku!" (he's died and gone to heaven. All Might recorded this. For him. And he didn't even pass!) "You may be wondering why I am speaking for Yuuei!" oh. Come to think of it, why was he? "I am a new teacher there!" All Might strikes a pose, before someone off-camera says something and All Might looks down at the couple papers he's holding, mumbling "right, right." He clears his throat. "You passed the written exam with flying colors! But unfortunately, you didn't earn a single point in the practical exam." Izuku cringes. "No battle points, that is. A board of directors were watching the exam, and awarded rescue points to anyone who earned them! And, my boy, you may not have run in yourself, but you knew your limitations and alerted young Iida to young Uraraka's predicament, which led to her rescue. The board awarded you seven rescue points for this!"

Izuku's eyes widen. He had earned points after all? Maybe not all hope was lost.

"Unfortunately, seven points is still a failing score." Izuku has come to some peace with his failure, but hearing the words from the mouth of his idol is still a punch to the gut. "But, because you passed the written portion, you were still accepted into the General Studies course! See you in April, Young Midoriya, Yuuei is lucky to have you!" All Might grins, and the video cuts out.

There are tears on his face. Of course there are. It will be a cold day in hell when he runs out of tears. But all hope is not lost. He made it into Yuuei, after all, and now he just has to get stronger. His next obstacle is the Sports Festival. He can make it until then.

.

There are still papers in the envelope. Probably supplies lists and class information. He goes to pull it out, and a small slip of paper twirls out of the envelope and onto his desk.

He blinks a few times, unsure if his eyes are playing tricks on him or if it _actually_ says that. He picks up the paper between his two fingers, handling it delicately as if it will disappear if he so much as blinks.

" _The entrance exam is flawed. I still think you'll make a great hero, kid. Don't let me down. –A.M."_

Yes, it will be a cold day in hell when Izuku runs out of tears.


	4. The One With the First Day of School

Izuku has no idea when his quirk manifested.

Everybody has a story. "Oh I cut my eyelid because my quirk manifested at just the wrong moment" (Ei was very proud of the tiny scar above his eye). "I sneezed and my hair turned pink" (Chie has always been thrilled with her quirk, allowing her to change the pigment of her hair and eyes at will).

Even Mom remembers when her quirk manifested. "I was five years old and was trying to steal a treat from Grandpa's office. He caught me in the doorway, and while I was panicking neither of us noticed that I was pulling the tin toward us until it hit him in the back." She and Grandpa always recount the story fondly.

But Izuku? He has no clue. Mom never kept candles around the house, they don't have a fireplace, and there were never any open flames at school either, so his quirk could have manifested any time and he would have had no idea.

By the time he was nearly six, Mom was starting to worry that he didn't have a quirk at all. Their family doctor took x-rays of his feet and assured them that he probably did have a quirk; he was missing the extra joint in his last toe, after all. But, if it hadn't manifested yet, it was probably something they were calling an "invisible quirk." A quirk that could only be activated under such specific circumstance that he may never know what it was.

Kacchan was still his friend then, and so he told him about it the next day at school.

That was a bad idea.

"So… you're quirkless?"

"No! Not really. We just don't know if we'll ever know what my quirk is."

Kacchan laughed. "Same thing, right?"

Later that day, Kacchan kicked him to the ground and called him useless.

"Deku! You'll never be anything other than a useless, crying baby."

.

He was six and a half when Kacchan found him in the yard behind the school. A grin that would never mean good things split open on his face, and sparks lit in his palm. There were no teachers around, and Izuku knew what that meant.

He cried. He cried and he begged, but Kacchan laughed and lit an explosion in his palm. It was a warning. It wasn't meant to hit him, he knew this, _knows_ this. (Kacchan does too).

But the small explosion was out as soon as it appeared, and Izuku screamed.

.

He was sent home that day with his hands wrapped and bleeding, and Kacchan was suspended despite his adamant protests that he hadn't done anything.

"I didn't touch him! _I didn't touch him!_

 _..._

 _..._

...

His first day of High School is tomorrow, and Izuku couldn't be more excited. He's been bouncing off the walls all morning. Mom must have been expecting this, because she just looks at him, struggling to stay still as he eats his breakfast, and laughs.

Technically school starts tomorrow, but there's a whole induction ceremony/welcome assembly/whatever you want to call it today. They're meeting their homeroom teachers too, so today might as well be the first day of school.

He and Ei talked last night, both of them way too excited to get any real sleep. Ei was obviously disappointed that they wouldn't be in the same class, but at the end of the day they were both ecstatic to actually meet each other in real life. Class 1-A and 1-C were probably in the same hallway, and they could see each other at lunch if nothing else.

Or today. It isn't a real school day so they can probably meet up today.

Izuku bounces up and puts his bowl in the sink with a little more force than probably necessary. "Bye Mom!" he grabs his bag and kisses her on the cheek.

"Be safe!" she yells after him, laughing as he practically sprints out the door.

It's a 10 minute train ride to Yuuei's campus, and Izuku cannot stop moving the entire time. He knows he's getting weird look looks from the other passengers, but if he stops bouncing his leg he's going to explode for sure.

.

Yeah yeah, this is technically the second time he's been on Yuuei's campus, but holy _hell_ he forgot how big it is. The school itself is massive! And the grounds just stretch on forever and ever…

He shakes himself out of his daze and walks into the school. He just has to find class 1-C. Unfortunately, the building is a massive glass maze and Izuku is just one small, lost boy. Fortunately, one of the upper-classmen takes pity on him and points him in the right direction (he looks familiar too. Tall… blond… dark eyes and a friendly smile… he'll have to look through his notebook on the sports festivals. Maybe he knows him from there?).

Izuku is not the last person to class (thankfully) but there are still plenty of people there, sitting on and around desks, chatting, laughing, and carrying on. Izuku stands in the doorway, not quite sure what he's supposed to do. Is there some kind of assigned seating? He swallows nervously, before seeing someone he recognizes.

It's a small thing, but he feels the relief wash over him instantly, and takes a seat in front of the still wild-haired Shinsou Hitoshi. He doesn't look up when Izuku sits down.

"Looks like we both passed the written exam, then." Izuku smiles. He's bad at making friends. Hopefully this isn't a bad way to go about it.

Shinsou scoffs. "Looks like it. Was the practical too much for you?"

Izuku shrugs. "Guess I'm no good against robots either." He stretches. "Too bad though! The hero course doesn't know what they're missing, tossing both of us out like that."

"You don't know that."

"What?"

Shinsou looks up at him. Either Izuku forgot just how dark the circles under his eyes were, or they've gotten darker in the last few months. "You don't even know what my quirk is. You can't say that."

Izuku pouts. "I know it's a psychological quirk. Those are typically pretty strong."

Shinsou looks away again. "Yeah whatever."

Izuku is about to ask what exactly his quirk is, when the door bangs open and in walks none other than Midnight herself. (Chie is going to love this.) She's taller than she looks on TV, and about eight times as intimidating.

"What's up, you fucks! –I probably shouldn't have said that, Aizawa's going to kill me." She laughs, propping her elbows on the table at the front of the classroom and resting her chin in her hands. She looks downright _devious,_ and Izuku feels a chill run down his spire. "Well, he can certainly try." She grins at them. "Hello kids. You can call me Kayama-sensei or Midnight, whatever suits your fancy. I'm going to be your homeroom teacher for the next three years."

"Hopefully not," Shinsou mutters. Izuku suppresses a snicker.

Midnight (Kayama-sensei?) must not have heard them, because she stands up straight and rests her hands lazily on her hips. "I also teach History of Heroics, so you'll have to deal with me there too. We have a few minutes before we need to head out for the welcome ceremony, so we should probably do some kind of introduction." She must notice the unsaid disgust rippling through the room. "Hey listen! I don't want to do this as much as you. But," she splays her hands open by her shoulders in almost a shrug, "We've gotta kill time somehow and you're sure as hell not going to get to do this tomorrow. So say your name and one interesting thing about yourself—and please for the love of god don't just say what your quirk is. There has got to be something more interesting about you than that. Here, I'll start." She taps her finger on her chin. "My name is Kayama, you don't get to know my given name, and I own three dogs who are probably smarter than the lot of you collectively."

She gestures to a girl sitting on the front row. She stands and starts to say her name when there's some kind of commotion outside the door (like a lot of people running past). Midnight curses under her breath. "Aizawa, what are you doing now?" She shakes her head before looking back at the girl and smiling. "Sorry, please continue."

Introductions continue around the room, and Izuku would be lying if he said he was paying any more than half-attention. With any luck, he won't be in class with these people for more than a few weeks anyway. Not that that is a good reason not to care about someone, but introductions are always miserable anyway.

Eventually the line of awkward introductions comes to Izuku, and he stands, catching his foot on his desk and nearly falling over in the process. So much for first impressions. "I'm uh, Midoriya Izuku, and I'm a gymnast?" he didn't mean to make that sound like a question, but here we are.

"A gymnast? A girl sitting near him asks. "Is that one of the quirkless sports?"

"Uh, yeah. It's an Olympic sport so it is quirk regulated," Izuku squeaks. The girl nods thoughtfully and Izuku sinks into his seat, face burning. Behind him, Shinsou shifts to stand.

"My name is Shinsou Hitoshi. I have three cats that are definitely smarter than the lot of you combined." Midnight snorts as he sits back down, and Izuku turns around to smile at him. Shinsou rolls his eyes and props his face in his hand lazily.

The introductions continue, and soon enough Midnight is herding them out of the classroom and toward the courtyard where the welcome assembly will be. Izuku falls into step with Shinsou, but he avoids looking at Izuku and tries to lose him around every corner they turn.

He can't be friends with everyone, Izuku knows that, but he is hoping it will be easier to make friends at Yuuei. He really doesn't want a repeat of middle school. At least he has Ei, though! They agreed to find each other at the welcome assembly.

Midnight directs them to a section of seats, and they all file in while she turns to someone standing over another class next to them. "Is Aizawa not going to be here?"

The man (Vlad King, the Blood Hero! Yuuei is so cool) sighs and rubs his temples. "No. He's not. I heard them out on the field, so heaven help those poor kids he's probably going to expel one before school even starts."

"As is life. Aizawa wouldn't be himself if he didn't expel half his class in the first week."

Vlad King laughs. "You're right about that."

Izuku keeps searching the crowd, but he can't find Ei. Or anyone with bright red hair, for that matter. Even if Ei looks different in person than he does over snapchat, his hair is distinctive enough to pick out of a crowd, right? Maybe he is in Aizawa's class. Izuku hopes he's okay—from the sound of it, Ei is going to have an interesting couple of years at Yuuei.

Hopefully they all will. He certainly hopes so. If the next three years are boring, he is going to be very, very disappointed. This is _Yuuei,_ after all.

The crowd of students quiets down as someone walks to the raised podium at the front. Well. If "someone" can be applied to the small, white…rodent?

The small white animal of some kind, in a nicely tailored suit, walks to the microphone, stretches out his…paws…and smiles.(?). "Welcome to Yuuei! And welcome back to all of our returning students!"

A cheer ripples through the crowd, and Izuku can't help but feel swept up in it. The grin on his face sure isn't going to leave any time soon. He hasn't felt this excited about anything in years.

.

The principle, who is definitely some kind of animal with a quirk, was not the least of the surprises that came with the welcome assembly. The whole thing feels like a bizarre fever dream, to be honest. A couple of the third-years speak, including the blond one who helped him find his classroom.

When it ends, Midnight herds them back to the classroom and gives them a simple run-down of how tomorrow is going to work. "You have 6 class periods, with five minute breaks between. You will also have 45 minutes for lunch, between periods 4 and 5. The Heroics classes have a 7th period, so you won't be able to talk to them, or anyone teaching them until that 7th period is over. I will let you know when I'm on duty to teach them, so I don't just disappear on you randomly." She slaps the desk with her open palm. "Sound good?"

"Yes sensei!" they chorus.

"Great! Now get lost. It's Sunday and I have a date with sweatpants and Netflix."

She shoos them out of the room. Izuku tries to catch Shinsou in the hallway, but the purple-haired boy keeps his head down and gets out of Izuku's way with a determination that he hasn't seen since… well since he and Kacchan were eight.

Which is too bad. He really was hoping to conspire with Shinsou about getting into heroics. Certainly if they work together, they will stand more of a chance against the hero kids. Well. Shinsou may be stubborn now but Izuku is going to be proactive this year! He's not going to have a repeat of middle school, just you watch, Kacchan.

In any case, he should go find Ei.

He's in class 1-A. They weren't there during the welcome assembly, so will they be back in their classroom? Would it be better to wait for him by his classroom? Outside? Maybe he should text him, ask where he is. But there's no guarantee that he will see it while he's still in the school, and what if whatever their teacher is having them do isn't over? Maybe they should wait and meet up tomorrow during lunch. They'll have lunch at the same time, right?

"Wow, you really do do the muttering thing!"

Izuku squeaks and spins around, eyes wide, holding his hands instinctively in front of his chest.

The boy laughs, showing off his unnaturally sharp teeth. "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Kirishima Eijirou." He holds out his hand, and grins. He's so much taller in person holy shit.

"Ei!" Izuku squeaks. "Or… Kirishima. Should I call you Kirishima? Sorry you startled me, I was just looking for you! Or, I was going to." He tugs at the sleeves of his jacket, before realizing he should probably shake Kirishima's hand, since he was offering. "Midoriya Izuku. Wow it's so cool to see you."

"You can call me whatever you like," Kirishima (Ei?) says, pulling Izuku by his hand into some kind of hug, and laughs again.  
"You're so much shorter than I thought you would be! I still can't quite believe it's you… like wow," He throws his hands up, "You're actually real!"

Izuku laughs. "I am, shockingly enough." They start walking down the hallway toward the lockers at the entrance. "You have Aizawa, right?"

"Yeah! The guy is so much cooler than I thought he would be when he first showed up. Took me a while to realize that he's Eraserhead, but he's an underground hero so I'd never seen his face."

Izuku splutters. "Eraserhead? You have Eraserhead? That's so cool oh my god."

"Ha! Maybe if I wasn't fearing for my life it'd be cool!"

Izuku stops. "What?!"

Kirishima throws his hands up as he backtracks. "No I didn't mean that literally. He's fine it's fine! He expelled a guy today, that's all!"

He's relieved, and falls back into step with Kirishima. "School hasn't even started?"

"Right? He took us all out back for a fitness test and expelled the person who finished last. It was terrifying, to be honest." Kirishima pauses. "I mean, it kinda made me more excited for the whole thing? Like, wow they really don't let just anybody in here, you know?"

Izuku swallows. Yeah. He knows.

Kirishima claps him on the shoulder. "I've got to go now, but we should totally hang out!"

"Definitely!" Izuku beams and waves as Kirishima walks away, before turning toward the train station. His fake first day is done. The real first day is tomorrow. He is somehow both more and less ready than he was before.

He's definitely more excited. The whole thing hasn't quite processed yet, but it's starting to feel real. He's also feeling some kind of dread set in that wasn't there before.

If someone—who passed the entrance exam—has already been expelled, who is he to say that he can make it in the hero course? He hasn't got a chance—!

He stops walking and pulls his hand slowly from his nose to his chest, breathing deeply. He needs to stop thinking like that. He starts walking again, slowly.

So what if he's behind now? It just means he will have to work twice as hard as everyone else. Didn't one of his coaches tell him that?

 _Izuku sniffled, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands. He was never going to get it!_

 _Okada-sensei crouched down next to him. "Izuku, why are you crying?"_

 _"Be-because Chie and Masumi can already do the new jump and I can't and I'll—" he hiccupped, his voice catching, "I'll never be as good as them!"_

 _Okada-sensei took him by the shoulders and looked into his eyes. "Listen, Izuku. Just because someone learns something faster than you doesn't mean they're better than you. And it certainly doesn't mean you can't still fight tooth and nail for the top spot. You just have to work twice as hard as them. Three times as hard, even. I promise your victory will be so much sweeter then."_

That's it. He squares his shoulders. He may not have hit the ground running—far from it, in fact—but that's not going to stop him. By God or heaven or all the powers that be, he is going to make them regret not putting him in the hero course sooner.

…

 _"They fucking what?!"_

Izuku laughs and rolls over on his bed, readjusting the phone. "Yeah! Expelled a kid on the first day. before the first day. whatever."

 _"I'm shook. Izuku they're going to eat you alive."_

"I'm not sure about that, I think I'd be pretty chewy."

Chie is quiet for a second on the other end of the line. _"Izuku you little shit!"_

And then he's laughing again, and she is too. "The principle, though! He's like, a mouse or something? A guinea pig maybe?"

Chie cackles. _"A what? What the fuck kind of place is Yuuei?"_

"Honestly, I have no idea, but Midnight is my homeroom teacher, so..."

 _"No! What? You're pulling my leg!"_

A grin pulls at the corners of his mouth. "Nope. She strolled into the room, in full costume, and the first thing she said to us was 'what's up you fucks.' It was a magical experience."

Chie groans. " _I can't believe this! I can't—Midnight is my favorite hero why the fuck do you get her as your teacher? Holy shit Midnight is your teacher! I should have just gone to Yuuei with you. This isn't fair."_

He laughs. "It's a little surreal, yeah. Maybe when you come down for a weekend you can meet her?"

 _"Yeah, maybe. That would be nice."_

He idly taps his feet against the wall next to his bed. "How's Tokyo?"

 _"Big. Like, everybody says it's big, and it's the biggest city in the world! I should have expected this! But sweet fuck Izuku this place is so huge."_

"Are you settling okay and all?"

Chie hums. _"Yeah I think so. I've got a couple of roommates that are from up north, but they seem nice? I've only known them for a day at this point, so no promises there. I think school will be good, too."_

"That's good. I worry about you, out there all alone."

 _"Oh shush up. You know I'll be fine."_ He smiles. She had gotten into her top choice school, but unfortunately that school was on the western outskirts of Tokyo. She left yesterday, and thankfully found some other people to go in on an apartment with, but Izuku is already missing her like crazy.

"Yeah, I know you will be. Good luck tomorrow, Chie."

 _"You too, Izuku. I'll talk to you after school tomorrow?"_

"Sounds good."

 _"And get going on Yuuei's gymnastics club! I want to see y'all in competition, just so I can say that I wiped the floor with Yuuei kids."_

Izuku laughs. "I'll see what I can do. Bye, Chie, talk to you tomorrow."

Chie laughs. " _talk to you tomorrow, nerd. Smooches."_

She ends the call, and Izuku sighs, letting his phone fall onto his chest. The posters that cover his walls and ceiling stare down at him. All Might, mostly. A smattering of others. Several with dark red and black bases—Endeavor. He knows he'll never be someone like All Might. He's not flashy like that. He doesn't have the raw strength that All Might has which lets him floor any enemy.

But Endeavor? They both have fire quirks. Fire quirks aren't like strength quirks. They're not universally applicable and they can very easily do more damage than good. And yet, Endeavor is the number two hero, with the most resolved incidents of any pro hero. He's everything Izuku wants to be (and can't be, simply because of the nature of his quirk).

But he'll be damned if he doesn't try.

All those months ago, when Kacchan had been caught by the slime villain—if Izuku had been just a little stronger, a little faster, a little better, he could have saved him.

Next time. The next time he's in a place like that, he will be strong enough—good enough—to save them. Everyone deserves saving. And Izuku will fight tooth and nail to make sure he saves as many people as he can.

…

He is no less excited for his first real day of school than he was yesterday. (No, it hasn't processed yet. He's hoping it'll hit him quietly).

He practically bounces out of bed, wolfing down his breakfast and wishing his mom a good day before he's out the door and skipping toward the train station. He has to take the early train. It'll get him to school 15 or 20 minutes early (depends on how fast he walks), but that's better than the next option, which will get him there 10 minutes late. He's fine with being to school early.

He spends the train ride scrolling through hero forums. There's still some buzz over what All Might is doing is Musutafu, but the hype has mostly died down after ten months with no real news. Well, Izuku knows why he's in Musutafu, but it must be a secret because the press doesn't know yet. And it's not like he's told anybody.

Nothing big again today, at least not in his area. Endeavor took out a group of smugglers last night, but it doesn't look like they were connected to anyone else so it isn't that big of a deal. There's a city in the north that was terrorized by a creature of some sort. It looks like it might have been a man, but it's been completely catatonic since the heroes brought it in. Nobody knows what it is or if it's connected to a bigger plot, but there are lots of theories floating around. Maybe he'll do some research about this. It could be interesting if it's more than the one isolated attack.

He almost misses his stop (that would be bad) but someone jostles him and he's snapped out of his daze. Right! first day of school. At Yuuei.

 _Holy shit he got into Yuuei he's going to YUUEI._

He catches his breath and forces it to even out as he walks off the train and toward the school ( _HOLY SHIT)_. There are a couple of people buzzing around, but classes don't start for another 20 minutes, so it's pretty quiet.

He takes his time strolling through the halls, double checking the locations of all his classes. He'll mostly be moving with his class from room to room, but it's still good to know where everything is.

How long does he have before the sports festival? Four or five weeks? It feels both very far away and very close. He's got to be stronger by then. The heroics kids will have had five weeks more training than him at that point—and from pro heroes no less. It'll be nothing short of a miracle if he can even hold a match to them. But he knows this—he knew this. He's always had to work twice as hard as everyone else, why would that stop now?

Maybe he should as Jian'guo-sensei if he has any suggestions for how to integrate his quirk into his fighting style. Up until now he's been doing that on his own, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone else's opinion.

He's so lost in his train of thought (probably was muttering too. Figures) that he runs straight into someone's back.

Izuku reels backward. "I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention—are you okay? I'm sorry again I should really watch where I'm walking, it's a really bad habit—" he bows, and misses the surprised recognition in the man's eyes.

He chuckles. "It's fine my boy, stand up! Are you okay?"

Izuku feels himself blush as he straightens up and finally gets a look at the man. He's tall—easily over two meters and he towers over Izuku. He's wearing a yellow pinstripe suit that's probably 6 sizes too big, and his wild yellow hair frames his skeletal face and sunken blue eyes. "I'm fine! Do I…" the pieces click in his head, and Izuku gasps. "Oh! You were there with the slime villain! I told you to watch my backpack! Thanks for that, by the way. I never saw you afterward…" Izuku trails off, feeling his face heat up again. What are the odds.

"It's no big deal, my boy. I'm just glad you're okay. You're too reckless for your own good." The man shakes his head, a small, knowing smile on his face. "I never got your name, do you mind?"

"Not at all!" Izuku squeaks. "I'm Midoriya Izuku. And you…?"

"Yagi Toshinori." The man—Yagi—offers a hand, and Izuku shakes it (his hand is so big, it absolutely swallow's Izuku's own). "Walk with me?" He gestures down the hall and Izuku nods, falling into step with him (well. He's taking two steps for every one of Yagi's but the guy is a giant).

"Do you teach here?" Izuku asks.

Yagi smiles. "I do, actually. I just started though, this is my first year."

Izuku beams. "Me too, actually! What are the odds?" he feels himself skipping a little bit. Yuuei is amazing. "If you don't mind me asking, are you a pro hero? Most of the teachers here are, and I don't recognize you."

Yagi hums. "You could say that. Technically I'm still a pro hero, but I had to retire early from hero work. An injury caught up to me, and I've been ill since, so I can't work like I used to."

"So you decided to teach?"

"Something like that. I wanted to make sure the next generation is in good hands."

"What's your hero name? If you don't mind me asking," Izuku says, throwing his hands up in front of his chest apologetically.

Yagi laughs. "You wouldn't know me. I've been out of commission since you were very young."

He's dodging the question, Izuku can tell that much. What would make him hide his hero identity though? He's teaching at Yuuei—there are not a lot of places to hide here. Oh well. If he doesn't want to share, Izuku won't press.

A bell rings, and Izuku nearly jumps out of his skin.

"That's the warning bell, my boy. You should probably get to homeroom."

Izuku nods. "It was nice taking to you, Mr. Yagi."

"You too, Young Midoriya. I hope we'll cross paths again." Yagi smiles at him and Izuku grins back, spinning on his heel and running for class 1-C. When he gets home he'll run some searches for "Yagi Toshinori." He sounds so familiar when he's talking, Izuku is sure he knows him from somewhere.

…

They're all assigned desks in homeroom, and Izuku is delighted to find that he'll be sitting diagonally in front of Shinsou (kitty corner? Is that what it's called?). He flashes the other boy a smile, but Shinsou rolls his eyes and looks pointedly out the window—away from Izuku.

He frowns. As far as he knows, Shinsou doesn't have any other friends—here or otherwise. So wouldn't he be eager to actually make a friend or two? They have the same goal. At the very least they can help each other get into the hero course, right? Two is better than one, after all.

Some nagging voice at the back of his head insists that he just isn't meant for friends. He has Chie—but she left, and he had Kacchan, but we all know how that turned out (his fault—it's been seven years now and he'll never be able to heal the rift he caused). He's not even sure what's wrong with him. He's overbearing? Is it the muttering? Maybe people can instinctively see that's he's parasitic—his power can only come from other people and he uses them for his own gains.

He tries to snap himself out of the destructive train of thought. He's not going make it into the hero course thinking like that. Hell, he won't be able to help anyone if he keeps this up. He folds his hands on his desk and tries to listen to what Midnight is saying.

Maybe it will amount to nothing, but he's going to keep trying to befriend Shinsou. They'd talked easily enough at the entrance exam. The potential for friendship is there, he just knows it is. Of course, he won't push Shinsou's boundaries or make him uncomfortable, but he'll be damned if he lets this purple tired-boy slip under his radar.

.

The first day of school is syllabus day. Izuku knew this coming in, but some part of him still hoped they would be doing something different. Not so.

In some of their classes they jump right into the material, but most of them rehash rules and class policies. Most of the teachers mention something about sporadically teaching heroics during 7th period, and how they'll try to keep them notified of when.

He doesn't see Yagi all day. Honestly, he's kind of disappointed. He doesn't know which hero Yagi is (was?), but he was really nice and Izuku would have liked to have a class with him.

Lunch rolls around soon enough, and Izuku finds himself faced with the enormous, sprawling cafeteria and absolutely no idea what to do. It's not like he has any friends to sit with (not for the first time he wishes Chie had actually applied to Yuuei with him). He grabs his tray of food, which looks heavenly by the way, and is walking toward and empty table when someone grabs his arm.

He stumbles forward, nearly losing his food. Behind him, a familiar high-pitched voice curses.

"Deku! I'm so sorry are you okay? I really should be more careful!"

Izuku laughs, turning around to see Uraraka, flushed and still apologizing profusely. "It's okay, I'm fine. It's good to see you!" He was so caught up in looking for Kirishima yesterday that he'd forgotten to check the crowd for her, he realizes.

She beams. "You too! Do you want to come eat lunch with us? Me and Iida, I mean."

"That—that sounds great! Thank you!" he follows her across the cafeteria to where the tall, stern boy with glasses is sitting.

When he sees them, he jumps to his feet. "Uraraka! You shouldn't have run off like that! Who is this?"

Uraraka plops down, pulling Izuku by the elbow down next to her. "I can't believe you don't remember! This is Deku! Well, Midoriya."

Some kind of recognition flashes in Iida's eyes. "Oh! Forgive me. My name is Iida Tenya."

Izuku barks some kind of startled laugh. "Midoriya Izuku. It's nice to finally talk to you under normal circumstances."

Iida adjusts his glasses, but smiles. "I agree. It's good to see that you made it into Yuuei! Which class are you in?"

"Oh. I'm in uh, 1-C. I didn't pass the practical." He feels himself growing sheepish, and forces himself to snap out of it. "I'm glad that you guys both got in too! Which classes are you in?"

"We're both in 1-A!" Uraraka says, grinning and bouncing in her seat. "It' been crazy so far and we're only a day in!"

Izuku laughs. "Wow, really?"

"Indeed," Iida says. "Two students have already been expelled. It's… disconcerting, to say the least."

"Two? I knew about the one yesterday, but there's another?" his mouth is hanging open.

"Yeah." Uraraka grimaces. "I'm happy to see him go, though. The kid yesterday seemed nice, and I don't think it was fair that he got expelled just for coming in last. But today this other boy with like… purple sticky hair? I don't really know. He tried to grope one of the other girls and Aizawa expelled him for it. Honestly, I'm really glad we don't have to deal with him."

"I share a similar sentiment," Iida says.

"Yikes though. Two kids in two days? Are you going to be alright?"

Uraraka laughs. "I hope so! Our first real day of hero training is today and I'm really excited!"

Something sharp pangs in Izuku's chest. He smiles, regardless. "I'm really excited for you!"

Thankfully, they devolve away from heroics (and quirks too, neither Iida nor Uraraka asks him about his quirk, and Iida never mentions his) and Izuku falls into the steady push and pull of a conversation. It's weird. Sitting and talking with people at lunch, that is. Nice weird, though. He's glad Uraraka remembered him and singled him out. She's really nice and funny, even if Iida still looks a little wary of him.

Not that Izuku really blames him.

He's walking back to class when Shinsou bumps into him. "I see you're cozying up to the hero kids. They're not going to help you." He sneers, walking ahead of Izuku and away before he can defend himself.

Maybe that's it? He's bitter. That's certain now. At the entrance exam he seemed fine with getting into the heroics department through the back door, but maybe he's more bitter about the situation than Izuku realized. Maybe he also doesn't realize that there's no weakness in working with other people—with having help.

It's a concept Izuku himself is still struggling with a bit. Other people helping him is too similar to him using them. He knows there's a mental block there and he knows it stems from guilt over his quirk and he's trying to work around it, _he is_ , but doing anything not on 100% of his own power is a little (a lot) nerve-wracking. Maybe Shinsou is in a similar place.

Maybe they can help each other.

Izuku sighs and walks into class. It's going to a long road, but something is telling him that his—and Shinsou's—best chance of making it through this whole ordeal is to work together. He just has to get Shinsou to see that.

The purple-haired boy is sitting at his desk, chin propped in his hand and staring out the window, seemingly oblivious to the world around him. He doesn't look up when Izuku sits down.

He doesn't even know Shinsou's quirk!

But hey, he's got five weeks. Well, five weeks minus one day. He can break through all this ice in that time, right? He has to.

Shinsou looks like he needs just as much saving from his own mind and Izuku does.

* * *

(A/N) i'll have u know that i wrote this chapter 3 weeks ago, and ever since then i have to suppress the urge to yell "WHAT'S UP YOU FUCKS" every time i walk into a room


	5. The One where we Google All Might

Katsuki really, really hates that he flinched when All Might burst through the door. He doesn't think anyone noticed, but he still scowls down at his desk.

It's not his fault that he can't stop associating All Might with the whole "sludge villain" thing. He's working through it with his therapist (god, he hates that too) and it's almost better, but not enough that he doesn't feel himself suffocating as soon as he hears All Might's voice.

God _fuck_ this is so stupid.

At least they're going to do battle training. Maybe if he can blow something up he'll feel better.

.

His costume is actually pretty nice—those support team fuckers, or whoever he submitted the design to, actually did a decent job. The gauntlets are lighter around his wrists than he expected them to be, but they're also empty so maybe he shouldn't be too surprised. The real test will be if they can handle a full-power blast while countering the recoil. Hopefully he'll get to test them out.

He'd better. He's been waiting for too long and he's too jittery right now. He needs to release all this pent-up energy or he's going to die. Maybe not die, but he'll end up doing something that he'll have to spend hours talking through with his therapist, so same thing, right?

All Might is explaining the exercise, but Katsuki is only half listening. Something about teams of three, a villain team and a hero team, need to protect a nuclear weapon yada yada. He really should be more excited about this than he is, this being the first day at Yuuei and all.

(In all honesty, it's taking everything he has to tune All Might out and keep the bile down his throat. He really didn't think he'd react this strongly to a voice of all things. All Might didn't even get there until it was almost over.)

He's drawing teams now. Maybe if he knew anyone in his class's names he'd care more, but he doesn't. He's strong enough by himself that it shouldn't matter anyway.

"The first match up will be…" All Might sticks his hands in the two boxes in front of him. "Team C as Heroes and Team A as villains! Villains, you'll have five minutes to hide your weapon before the hero team enters the building!"

He's team A and he's a villain. Katsuki grins. He would never consider being a villain in real life (what the fuck?) but being a pretend villain for a training? It's all the excuse he needs to blow something (someone) up and he is _ecstatic_.

He's storming. Strutting. Power-walking. Murder-walking. (however you want to describe it) when he is affronted by two people. Probably the other two people on his team.

"We should strategize!" the boy says. His costume looks like a cross between a car engine and a robot—in short, it's tacky and horrible and he could really use some design advice.

"What are your quirks?" the girl asks. Her costume at least has some design sense. It's red (an excellent color) with some kind of high-collared crop top and short shorts in the same color. She's also sporting a yellow belt that looks way too bulky to be practical, but hey! If she wants to limit her movement that's her problem, not his.

"Engine! I have engines in my legs." The boy says. Good fuck he's so loud.

"I can light explosions in my palms," Katsuki grumbles. Better to concede than fight them about it for the rest of the time.

"I can make create anything from my body fat," she says. "It would be very easy for me to barricade the weapon into the room we choose for it."

"Fantastic, you two guard it and I'll ambush them," Katsuki says. This is working out better than he hoped. "My quirk is more combat oriented, anyway."

Engine-boy hums. "That doesn't sound like the best plan…"

"Do you have a better one? I'll wait."

Ponytail sighs. "We should move the weapon to a higher floor. It'll give you more room to fight the hero team and give us longer to fortify it."

"Great. I'll see you fuckers when this is over."

"Language!" Engine yells after him, but Katsuki is already racing down the hallway to get an idea of the layout of the building. This will all be over very quickly, if he has anything to say about it. And he will.

The building very obviously isn't meant to resemble an actual, functional building. Each floor is practically a maze, with more hallways than rooms. Makes for good training, he supposes.

The hero team has the octopus guy, the really bouncy girl who's been hanging out with damn Deku (he can't escape him! everywhere he goes, everything he does, Deku is always right there, isn't he?) and the half-and-half bastard with the godawful ice costume. The only things he knows about their quirks are based on what he saw yesterday in the physical exam, which isn't a lot. Arms guy is probably who he has to look out for, though.

Stealth has never been his strong suit, but if Arms can grow extra hands on his hands then he can probably grow ears too, and Katsuki would rather have the element of surprise on his side. So he finds the best stake-out on the second floor, crouches, and waits.

Ponytail and Engine are a couple floors above him (5? Not that it matters, he won't let anyone get near them) and he can't hear them moving anymore, so they must be ready.

He breathes out slowly, steeling himself, and stops fighting the crazed grin threatening to break out on his face. Mom always says it makes him look like a maniac, but so what? He's the villain here, he might as well look the part.

All Might calls time, and they're officially on the clock. The hero team should be coming in now.

He waits in silence for a few painful seconds.

Then he hears something. It's a faint popping sound, like when you drop an ice cube in a cup of water and it cracks. Was it always so cold in here?

His eyes widen. Oh fuck no.

A sheet of ice is rapidly crawling along the floor toward him. (Along the walls too).

"Shit!" he jumps, firing off an explosion (and alerting everyone to his position, dammit) to keep him in the air, and narrowly avoids becoming encased in the ice himself. He doesn't land soundly, and his feet slip under him. A string of curses fly from his mouth, but he doesn't fall, so who's the real winner here? Not this fuckin ice, that's who.

This is certainly going to make things more difficult though. He grits his teeth and grins. Bastard's making it interesting for him? Thank fuck. It'd be awfully boring if he was the only one here with any sense.

There are footsteps coming toward him now. Calm and measured, like whoever it is doesn't have a care in the world.

It's probably that half-and-half ice bastard. Thinks he's won. Think again bitch!

He comes into view and Katsuki lunges, his palm sparking in anticipation.

Half-and-half blinks lazily, and sweeps his hand up from his side.

He hears the cracking before he sees the ice forming, and unfortunately they both have too much momentum. He crashes into the small glacier and it seals around him, locking him into place.

"What the FUCK?!"

Half-and-half shrugs, and is that a smirk? Oh the bastard is definitely smirking at him and Katsuki is going to blow his fucking _face off_.

"Don't be disappointed just because I'm stronger than you."

He doesn't even spare Katsuki a backward glance as he continues on down the hallway.

His loss.

Katsuki may be trapped in ice but he still has a hell of a lot of sweat on his hands and in his gloves. It takes a second, but he ignites it and the ice shatters around his hands and arms.

"Hey you! Ice Bastard!" he yells, prying himself the rest of the way out of the ice block. "Get over here and fucking fight me!" He doesn't actually expect him to 'get over here,' from any strategic standpoint that's a piss poor move and if this bastard fell for it Katsuki would be sorely disappointed. He does expect him to at least glance back, and glance back he does.

Katsuki is already on him, propelling himself forward with the force of his explosions and hooking half-and-half right across the face.

Or, he would have if a sheet of ice hadn't sprung up out of f _ucking nowhere_.

The ice shatters under the force of his explosion, and he yells in frustration.

There's a very loud crashing sound from somewhere above them and the building shakes with it. Half-and-half smirks again. "It's been good playing with you, but—"

And then All Might's voice in all of their ears. "Hero team wins!"

…

Mom isn't there when he gets home. That's not unusual; she rarely gets home before him. He pulls some chicken out of the freezer to defrost and retreats to his room.

He passed Yagi in the hallway after sixth period, but he seemed to be in a hurry, and didn't stop to talk. He did wave, though, which is nice. All that said, Izuku's curiosity is still mounting.

He pulls open his laptop and types "Yagi Toshinori" into the search bar.

Nothing.

Well, technically he gets thousands of results, but none of them are particularly helpful. There's somebody named Yagi Toshinori who was a small-time movie director, but he died some fifty or sixty years ago. There's absolutely nothing relating to heroes.

He drums his fingers on his desk and types "Aizawa Shouta" into the search bar (he overheard Mic call out to the very scruffy looking teacher sometime between classes). He has several pages of Notebook #6 dedicated to Eraserhead, but he didn't know his real name until today.

The results pull up and the first few are nonsensical (or historical figures with similar names) but about 6 links down the Yuuei faculty directory pulls up, citing Aizawa as both a teacher and the pro hero Eraserhead.

What?

His eyebrows pinching together involuntarily, Izuku follows the link through to the Yuuei faculty page. The page is full of a colorful assortment of heroes—several in the top 30 or 40, but all well-known enough that Izuku has heard of them (he has notes on most of them, actually).

All Might even has a page. Izuku laughs at that, the headshot they have of him is mildly atrocious. The yellow pinstripe suit is tacky beyond all belief, but it definitely adds something. Charm maybe? The fact that the symbol of peace is a fashion disaster isn't exactly something that the public shrinks away from laughing at. It's all in good fun, (All Might's "one flaw" as we like to say), but he certainly isn't doing himself any favors with this suit.

Izuku closes All Might's profile and keeps scrolling through the teachers. When he reaches the bottom, he frowns, scrolling back up to look through it again. And then he pulls up the website's internal search function and searches "Yagi Toshinori."

Nothing.

He did say he was new, maybe they just haven't made a page for him yet. But this is All Might's first year teaching at Yuuei as well and he has a profile all set up and is searchable on the website.

Something isn't adding up here. Yagi had seemed honest when Izuku was talking to him. He fancies himself to be a pretty perceptive person, and there hadn't seemed to be anything that Yagi was outright lying to him about. He was definitely being dodgy about his hero identity, but that's why Izuku is here trying to find him.

And he'll be damned if he doesn't find _something_. He cracks his knuckles and dives in.

(he actually shoots a message to his friends first. Four heads are better than one).

 **Small_Might: ProfessionalYike BestJeanass CrimmsonRiott have you guys ever heard of a hero named "Yagi Toshinori"?**

 **Small_Might: Thats his real name, not his hero name btw**

 **BestJeanass: … no…**

 **ProfessionalYike: yeah idk bro**

 **ProfessionalYike: Can't believe we found a hero u don't know. Props to this Yagi guy**

 **BestJeanass: yeah wha'ts up? where did u find this guy**

 **Small_Might: he teahes ua. I don't have him tho. I talked to him before school and he seemed like a cool guy?**

 **Small_Might: he was super dodgy about his hero identity tho so im doin som h**

 **ProfessionalYike: maybe he's an underground hero? Doesn't want ppl to know who he is**

 **Small_Might: yea maybe.**

 **Small_Might: idk I'll let u guys know if I find anything**

 **BestJeanass: yeet bro**

 **ProfessionalYike: plz don't speak**

Izuku closes the chat window and starts down all his usual routes of people-investigation. There are always ways to find people, you just have to know how to do it. He always likes to try the non-shady methods first before he starts breaking into government databases for quirk registries (that's the foolproof, but last resort, method).

He does a couple searches for the family name "Yagi." It isn't one he's heard very many times, so maybe he'll find something unique. He stumbles across a few articles about a family named Yagi who were all murdered (save for their 7-year-old son, who isn't named) by villains some sixty years ago. It's a heart-wrenching story, but he can't track this little boy (who would be what, 64 or 65 now?) to the Yagi at Yuuei. The boy was too young so legally they couldn't say his first name. The ages might line up though? Yagi said he was before Izuku's time, and it's true that this little boy—had he become a hero—would have been in and out of his prime long before Izuku was born. It's hard to tell how old Yagi is though. He looks sickly, but he's not really greying or wrinkled so he could be anywhere from 35 to 90 and Izuku wouldn't bat an eye.

Izuku groans in frustration. How the hell is he supposed to figure out who Yagi is? (He realizes he's probably not. The guy covered his tracks for a reason, but if he thinks that's gonna stop Izuku—the king of nosiness—from doing everything in his power to find him then he's dead wrong).

The quirk registry database is ~technically~ public property, but that doesn't mean that it isn't guarded by every security measure the government could legally take. There's a lot of damage people can do with the quirk registry, especially because it's tied so closely to a lot of other, more sensitive public records.

That being said, Izuku figured out how to hack into it when he was 12. He doesn't abuse this power, he just sometimes likes to look up what people's quirks officially are. And sometimes if he uses it to find people's birthdays, that's neither here nor there.

"Yagi Toshinori" brings up 27 results, which is significantly less than Izuku was expecting. This will probably be pretty easy, then. He starts sorting through them, pulling out people who are definitely too old or too young or who have horns etc.

Seventeen results in, Izuku sees him, and his breath catches in his throat. The picture is not of Yagi as Izuku knows him now, but it is undoubtedly him. He has the same mane of wild blond hair framing his narrow face. His cheekbones are still sharp, though softer than they are now—hollowed by illness and age. His bright blue eyes twinkle at Izuku from the screen and his grin in near blinding. He's also 21 in this photo, at the very most. It could be his 3rd year High School picture, for all Izuku knows.

Either way, the Yagi staring at him from this page is young. Very Young.

Updating your picture in the quirk registry is optional after you graduate high school. They use your school pictures until then, but after you graduate if you want your picture updated you have to do it yourself. Most heroes keep their pictures current—their profiles (parts of them, at least) are more available to the public than most civilians. But this picture obviously hasn't been updated in several decades.

He tears his eyes away from the profile picture (the smile looks so familiar. Izuku swears up and down he knows who Yagi's hero identity is. There's no way he doesn't, there are too many little things that are too familiar) and looks at the rest of the profile.

 _Name: Yagi Toshinori_

 _Born: 10 June XXXX_

 _Quirk: None_

His hand flies to his mouth as he gasps audibly. He flips over to the news tab he still has open and searches frantically for a date. And—oh god. Yagi would have been seven years old at the time of the murder and oh god they're probably the same person.

And then… he's quirkless? _He's quirkless._

Yagi Toshinori is (was) a hero, and he is quirkless.

Good lord and all the heavens above Izuku _has_ to know this story. The government isn't going to keep perfect records of their lives, but census reports, school records, and government forms can tall a lot about a person. He has a long night ahead of him, if he's going to dig up Yagi's life story.

His phone dings, and Izuku nearly jumps out of his skin. He wheezes, reaching for it, trying to calm his racing heart. He knows he gets jumpy when he's focusing on something, but this is ridiculous.

Looks like a message from the group chat.

 **CrimmsonRiott: Yeah I've never heard of aybody named Yagi**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I odnt have him either. Maybe he teaches 2nd or 3rd years?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ANYWAY**

 **CrimmsonRiott: not to take away from ur soulsearching or wtv**

 **CrimmsonRiott: BUT ALL MIGHT TAUGHT US TODAY**

 **CrimmsonRiott: IM STILL SHOOK**

 **Small_Might: really? Tell me everything!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: he was in full costume and we did battle training and he's so loud? I didn't expect him to be that loud**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I probably should have expected that but**

 **Small_Might: nah I feel. When I met him first it surprised me how loud**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Hes also a huge fuckin dork y'all should know**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I felt 90% manlier just standing next to him**

 **CrimmsonRiott: and he congradulated me on my performance and I cried so many (manly) tears**

 **BestJeanass: ur starting to sound like deku**

 **ProfessionalYike: PFFFFFT youre right and u should say it**

 **CrimmsonRiott: YOU ODN'T UNDERSTAND**

 **Small_Might: you realy don't. it's a religious experience**

 **CrimmsonRiott: deku ur the only person who understands me**

 **Small_Might: thank u Ei**

He'll spill his research into the chat once he's done. There are still too many holes for him to be satisfied, and heaven help him he will fill in this picture if it kills him.

Alternatively, he could just go ask Yagi about these things. Say "hey, I did some googling and I couldn't find you? Please tell me who you are I'm dying."

But where's the fun in that?

.

When Mom gets home at 7, Izuku knows enough to leave a permanent lump in his throat, and yet still has no idea who Yagi is.

…

Uraraka catches him on the way to school the next day.

"Deku!" she yells, screeching to a halt just before she runs into him. "I never got your number!"

"Oh! Sure, hold on." he pulls out his phone and hands it to her.

"I wanted to text you yesterday after class, but then I couldn't! And I thought, that's a shame! So I'm glad I caught you before class today." She grins, handing him back his phone. (she wanted to text him? that's… that's Wow). They fall into step together. "All Might taught us yesterday! He was so cool!" She pumps her fist into the air, bouncing on her feet. "He's so much bigger in real life, though."

Izuku can't help but laugh. "Oh yeah definitely. I always knew he was tall, but when I first met him it really caught me off guard just how tall. That and I was a little too star-struck to really process anything I was seeing," he says.

Uraraka nods enthusiastically. "Same! I almost screamed when he walked in the door—when did you meet him? Does he teach general studies too?"

"Oh, uh, no." he feels himself flush. "He saved me from a villain about a year ago."

Her eyes go wide. "Really? Are you okay? Were you okay?"

He forces a laugh. "Yeah I'm fine. It was scary, but like I said! All Might saved me, which was really cool."

She is about to respond when suddenly the press is on top of them. There are cameras and microphones pointed in their faces from all directions and about a million people asking what it was like to have All Might as a teacher.

Ah yes. The news had to break some time, he guesses.

Uraraka shyly answers that he's a good teacher and that yes he's just as nice as he looks, but Izuku ducks the questions. "I'm in general studies, I don't have him." The reporters look disappointed, but eventually let him slip by.

He grabs Uraraka's elbow and drags her away from the press as well. She seems relieved. Her shoulders slump and she sighs. "Thanks, Deku. I don't know if I could have made it out of there on my own."

"It's no problem!" he puts his hands on his hips and sticks his chest out dramatically. "That's what a hero is for, right?"

She breaks down into hysterical laughter and Izuku can't help but join in.

They pass Shinsou on their way into the school and Izuku doesn't miss the dirty look he throws their way.

He winces a little. He should talk to Shinsou today if there's time. Maybe convince him that they should work together. Though… he's still not sure how. Maybe he needs to come up with some kind of plan? Some way that they both can work together to beat everyone else at the sports festival… Would Shinsou be more receptive to a plan like that or would it be better to just try and befriend him first?

"Uh, Deku?"

His head snaps up and he looks, wide-eyed, at Uraraka.

"You're mumbling to yourself. What's up?"

"Oh, sorry!" He rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. "It's nothing important. Just…school work?" he's not sure why he lies to her. Maybe if he and Shinsou can catch the hero classes off-guard they'll stand a better chance? Yeah that's it.

She hums. "Well good luck with that! I'll see you at lunch?"

"Maybe not today. I have another friend I'm meeting up with."

"That's fine! Have a good day, Deku!"

"You too!" he waves and she bounces off to class 1-A. He hears someone scream when she opens the door and wow, that sounds a lot like Kacchan. He's not entirely sure where Kacchan ended up, but if Uraraka has to deal with him, then props to her and he wishes her all the luck in the world.

.

He ended up sitting next to the girl from the first day who asked him about gymnastics. Her name is Arai Ren, and she's actually pretty nice. Izuku spent some time talking to her yesterday, and today when he gets into class she immediately spins around and starts talking to him about all the journalists outside and wasn't it miserable trying to slip through all of them?

"Well they all finally know what All Might is doing? And that's kind of important for them?" he shakes his head. "But yeah they were really annoying. Hopefully the teachers can get rid of them before we have to leave."

Arai sighs. "Hopefully! I haven't even seen All Might yet!"

"Me either, actually."

"Isn't it weird? Where is he. I want to meet him. I want him to crush my head between his pecs."

Izuku chokes out a startled laugh. "You w _hat_?"

She waves her hand idly through the air. "It's not important. More importantly, don't you?"

"I uh. Can't say I've ever thought about it."

He swears he hears Shinsou snort from behind him. Has he ever thought about All Might crushing his head between his pecs? Good lord that's such a strange image. He needs to stop thinking about it or he'll be scarred for life.

Thankfully, Midnight saves him from his own thoughts (and this conversation) when she walks in and announces that they need to pick a class president.

Everyone perks up at that. As much as Izuku would like to be the class president, he doesn't think it's all that realistic. He's not exactly planning on staying in this class for very long, and shouldn't the class president have some kind of loyalty to the class as a whole? They probably should.

Someone suggests that everyone who wants to be president give a 30 second campaign pitch and then they all vote, since they don't know each other that well. It seems reasonable enough, and one by one most of class 1-C tries to sell themselves in 30 seconds or less.

Izuku can't help but notice that Shinsou also doesn't offer himself up as a potential candidate.

(Arai does, and while Izuku wouldn't trust her not to crack an egg, let alone lead a class, he's got to admit that she has his vote). (At least the chaos will be fun to watch).

Arai actually amasses three votes (he wonders who the third one was), but she doesn't beat out another girl who gets five. Granted, the other girl (Ueno) actually looks like she has her life together. She'll make a good class president, and maybe she can manage to reign in her over-excitable vice president. That would be a feat in of itself.

Homeroom is over pretty quickly, and Izuku learns that the teachers at Yuuei, despite being pro heroes and looking severely less-than-qualified to teach things like Math and English (does Present Mic even have any certification?), they don't go easy on students. It is the top school in Japan, he should have guessed that the academics would be challenging too, but he isn't expecting to be lost in Math on the second day of school.

Ectoplasm seems like a nice enough guy, if a bit intimidating, but his teaching style is very different than anything Izuku has dealt with before, and it always takes him a bit to figure out what people are trying to tell him. In a week or so he should be fine, but the adjustment period is always tricky.

Ectoplasm had also promised to let them know when he was teaching heroics, and he hadn't said anything today so maybe he'll go talk to him after school and see if he can get everything sorted out. He'll never make it into heroics if he's failing math, that's for sure.

He'll deal with Math after school, though. Now is lunch time and he promised Ei he'd sit with him today. They even have a prearranged meeting spot and everything.

…

Eijirou is waiting there for him. He's scrolling through their group chat—Chie and Kuma have forgotten that they have a private server for a reason, and are planning a lunch date for this Saturday since they're both in Tokyo now. He's so engrossed that he doesn't notice Deku approaching him and startles (barely) when he sets down his lunch tray and takes the seat across from him.

"Oh sorry, Kirishima! I didn't mean to spook you," Deku says, waving his hands in some kind of apologetic dance. Eijirou almost laughs—he's so much more expressive than he imagined. It's really cute, actually. Not to mention that Deku's hair looks so much fluffier in real life.

"It's fine! Don't worry about it, bro." Deku seems to relax at that. "And you don't have to call me Kirishima just because we've only technically known each other for two days. You've been calling me Ei for eons now!"

Deku pokes at his food. "Yeah…but that means you don't get to call me Midoriya."

"Deku. My bro. I wouldn't dream of it."

He seems to perk up at that, and Eijirou's heart soars. This is going so well.

"How's Yuuei's infamous heroics program treating you?" Deku asks, and he is more than happy to answer.

"It's crazy as hell, bro! Aizawa's expelled two kids already and I keep thinking it's gonna be me next! But All Might is So Cool. And I don't know the other kids that well, but everyone is crazy strong and it's making me feel a little like a phony."

Deku smacks him lightly on the hand—but then his eyes go wide and he reels away. "Sorry! I shouldn't have hit you like that! It's just something Chie and I do and I forgot not everyone does—!"

Eijirou laughs. "It's fine bro."

Deku sighs. "Okay good. Because I meant it. you shouldn't talk about yourself like that! You're more than strong enough to be in the hero course." Deku looks so earnest, and honestly he's flattered.

He claps a hand over his heart. "Bro!"

He's cut off by the alarm bell sounding and the lunch crowd completely going to hell. He grabs Deku's arm and hauls him to his feet as the crowd washes over then and out into the hallway. Everyone is screaming and pushing each other.

Eijirou is really glad he's not claustrophobic, or this would be a nightmare.

"What's going on?" Deku yells.

"It means someone's breached security—there's someone on school grounds!" comes the response from an upperclassman. That does nothing to quell Eijirou's nerves, if anything his stomach ties into larger knots than before. This is like something out of an American horror film.

He's about ready to accept his death—he has yet to let go of Deku though, he's so tiny he'd be eaten alive by this crowd—when something whizzes above his head and slams into the archway above the door.

Oh! That's Iida! Eijirou had been secretly hoping he would have won class president, but hadn't been willing to sacrifice his vote. He isn't too hung up on it—Todoroki seems like he'll make a fine class president. He's cool and level-headed enough.

"Everyone!" Iida yells above the din. "It's just the media! Please calm down!"

Just the media? The crowd quiets and Deku slumps against him. It makes sense, doesn't it? They were trying really hard to get into the school when he'd gotten here this morning. Still, it's a little disconcerting. Yuuei's supposed to have really great security. Like, the best.

Deku must be thinking the same thing, because he's muttering up a storm (cute? Good lord Eijirou is too gay for this).

Not long after, a teacher shows up and informs them that it was, in fact, a false alarm and that everything is okay now. They shuffle back into the lunchroom and Deku gives him this _look_.

"It's not nothing, is it?" Eijirou says.

"I…." Deku swallows, "I don't think so. I really want it to be nothing, but—"

"But is it ever?"

Deku smiles, barely. It doesn't reach his eyes. "You're talking to the guy who almost got killed by the same villain twice in a day," his face twists, like he's thinking something that he won't say. "Any coincidence is a bad thing in my book."

Needless to say, Eijirou is on edge for the rest of the day, and can't properly appreciate that Snipe is teaching heroics for the day (under any other circumstances, he'd be ecstatic. Snipe is one of his favorites).

He is pleasantly surprised when Todoroki gives the class presidency over to Iida. It's fitting, and it makes him respect Todoroki more, but it's not enough to snap him out of his funk.

He's hopelessly distracted and ends up taking a pretty bad fall during whatever obstacle course Snipe has them doing (maneuverability exercise). He hardens himself before he hits the ground, so he doesn't hurt himself (he's a little shaken, maybe), but Snipe still pulls him out of the exercise and is…fussing over him?

Honestly, not something Eijirou would have expected but that's the only way he can describe what is happening.

Snipe ends up conceding a bit and doesn't send him to see Recovery Girl, but he is held out for the rest of the class. Eijirou huffs and rests his chin in his hand. He's not really excited about just watching the rest of the class—how is he supposed to get stronger if he's stuck out here?

Then again… maybe it's better if he takes a minute to lose himself in his thoughts. If he can work through whatever was distracting him, this won't happen again.

Unsurprisingly, Bakugou is one of the first people done.

"Oi! Shitty Hair! What the fuck are you doing up here?"

Eijirou startles out of his weird trance. "Uh, I fell and Snipe pulled me out."

"Tch." He almost looks like he want to kick something. Eijirou or the ground maybe, and he tenses just in case, but Bakugou turns on his heel toward the locker room.

Eijirou watches him go. Bakugou is… interesting to say the least. He's definitely one of the strongest people in their class, but he's got this whole air of hostility around him that's a little more intimidating than he would care to admit. He's just very loud and very rude.

(Really hot, too. Eijirou wishes his type wasn't "asshole bad-boy" but here we are.)

There's something there though. He isn't the best at reading people, but there's something in the way that Bakugou runs his fingers absently over the scar on his face when he's not thinking, or the almost soft look that flashed over his face before he turned away just a moment ago that makes him think that there has to be something. (So what if he spends too much time watching him in class. Eijirou is fifteen and gay and Bakugou is hot. Sue him).

He's not sure what that something is, but he really wants to find out.

…

It took significantly longer than he was expecting, but Ectoplasm was really very willing to work with him, and Izuku is starting to get a grasp on how he teaches. It'll still be a few more weeks before it clicks entirely, but at least he's no longer behind on the second day of school.

And Ectoplasm was really nice, actually, so he doesn't feel weird about asking him for help.

He glances at a clock as he leaves the classroom. Wow—it's really late. The heroics class should be getting out in a few minutes. Maybe he can catch Ei or Uraraka? That would be nice! But then again, he runs the risk of running into Kacchan. He's been lucky so far, but obviously that luck can't last forever (especially if he gets into heroics). He can certainly drag it out as long as humanly possible, though.

He'll probably just head out.

He's not paying attention (again) and crashes into someone.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention—are you okay?" He bows, not very deeply, more of an apologetic head nod than anything else.

Whoever he ran into laughs. "Young Midoriya, we need to stop meeting like this."

His head snaps up, and he hopes that Yagi takes his wide eyes for something other than horrified shock. "I'm sorry about that. I should really, I need to watch where I'm going and I don't. I just get kinda, uh, lost in my head and I'm really sorry again." He really wasn't counting on seeing Yagi again today. Not that he's disappointed to see him, necessarily. Yagi is a really nice guy; it's just that Izuku isn't quite sure what to say to someone who is, legally, dead.

Yagi smiles and claps him on the shoulder (his hands are so big). "Don't worry about it, my boy. I've seen a lot in my day, I won't be so easily fazed by a little bump now and again."

Izuku nods, trying desperately to quell the voice in his head screaming 'the government thinks you died when you were 19! Why did you tell me your real name?!'

And good heavens above he can't even ask if Yagi is really quirkless because that will mean admitting that he can get into the quirk registry which ALSO (if you know where to look) has everyone's legal birth/death dates and so then Yagi would know that he knows and wouldn't that just be a disaster.

Can he maybe slip it into casual conversation? 'hey I googled you and couldn't find a hero who looked like you?' or would that be too risky? "Do you teach the second and third years?" you know what? Fine. Whatever. That's a good enough question.

Yagi chuckles. "Disappointed you don't have me?" there's some kind of mischievous glint in his eye and Izuku really wishes he could associate that with anything other than 'I've been in hiding for nearly half a century you've got nothing on me, kid' but alas.

"Yeah, a little," is what he actually says.

"I only teach heroics. Nezu has me bouncing between all three years, but I don't have a core class to teach." He sighs. "Maybe one day. I've seen a lot, maybe I could teach some kind of elective on quirk theory."

"I am trying to get into heroics, so hopefully I'll have you then!" Izuku smiles, hoping it looks genuine. The screaming in his head hasn't stopped. He's quirkless and only teaching heroics? There's something really big here that he's missing, he just knows it.

He doesn't miss when Yagi falters. It's small and he recovers pretty quick, but something about Izuku making it into heroics is making him uncomfortable. Fascinating.

The smile he puts on is very obviously fake. "That would be wonderful, my boy. How, er, how are you planning to get into heroics?"

He's definitely uncomfortable with this. Izuku is a nice person at heart, but he's also bound set and determined to get to the bottom of this mystery. So as much as it's making him sick, he's going to dig his nails into this crack in Yagi's armor and hope something peels up.

He bounces a bit as they walk. "Sports festival! My quirk isn't very good against robots, but I've got a way better chance against people. And I figure if a gen ed kid can beat out at least most of the heroics students, they've got to consider me, right?" At least none of that is a lie. He is excited to show everyone at the sports festival what he's made of.

"They certainly should! I was one of the proctors for the entrance exam and I couldn't help but realize how unfair it was. Many of the active pros I know could not have passed it." Yagi shakes his head (Izuku can't help but realize that he doesn't lump himself in with the people who couldn't have passed the practical). "I'm trying to negotiate a different approach to the exam, but Yuuei has been doing this exam since I attended and Nezu isn't keen on changing it."

Izuku hums. "Best of luck to you!" he knew that Yagi attended Yuuei for one year (his third year). He also 'died' only months after graduating, without making a real debut as a hero. The Yuuei records are also fuzzy, like they'd been tampered with.

Yagi gives him a look that's almost fond. "Thank you, my boy. I'm sure if you make a big enough splash at the sports festival, it'll be much easier to convince Nezu to come around."

Izuku beams. "Thank you! I'll try!"

Yagi glances down at the oversized watch on his wrist. "Shit—ah, forgive my language. Nezu wanted us all in an emergency meeting, I've got to go."

"Is it about the break in?"

Yagi winces. "I'm afraid so. I don't want to spook you, there are enough pro heroes here that you'll be safe, but we are worried that there's something going on. It doesn't hurt to be paranoid, especially when your safety is our top priority."

Izuku nods. "Good luck with that! I hope it's nothing."

"Me too, my boy. Me too."

…

 **Small_Might: So this got interesting rl fast and I feel like Ive stumbled into some kind of conspiracy**

 **ProfessionalYike: oo juicy. Do tell**

 **Small_Might: k gimme a sec theres a lot to type**

 **BestJeanass: tbh im glad u have a new project. Its good 4 ur soul**

 **BestJeanass: u need it to keep u sane or wtv**

 **BestJeanass: also chie make sure u get to the train station least 20 min early, its always realy busy and that train runs fast**

 **ProfessionalYike: k k I gotchu**

 **ProfessionalYike: still cant believe I get to meet you Kuma. I'm dying just a bit**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yeah! Wtf I'm jealous**

 **BestJeanass: well now I'm the only one who hasn't met deku so this is only fair**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but then I'lll be the only one who hasn't met chie?**

 **ProfessionalYike: karma**

 **CrimsonRiott: that doesn't make any sense**

 **Small_Might: SORRY THIS IS LONG okay so "Yagi Toshinori" isn't listed as a teacher ua, all the other teachers have their real and code names listed but not him apparently. I thought maybe it was b/c hes new but AM has a page and hes new too so idek. So ofc I dug thru the quirk registry and found out that Yagi is A) quirkless and B) he died when he was 19. He aslo went to ua for his last year of hs, but never got the chance to debut as a hero. Also his parents were murdered by villains when he was 7 and he was in foster care until the pro hero Nana (she's my mom's idol, what are the odds) kinda took him in. she died when he was 16 or 17ish so like. So then he "dies" two years later and apparently is running around doing hero work with the Ultimate Protection on his identity, but according to him he got injured real bad about 6 years ago and had to retire.**

 **Small_Might: I'm still so fuckin confused what the fuck**

 **Small_Might: Also this is him when he was 19. I don't have any pictures of him now**

 **Small_Might: [image]**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yikes! What the hell? I think I've seen him around come to think of it. wow.**

 **BestJeanass: WH A T TH EFUCK WHA T THE F CUK**

 **BestJeanass: I KNOW HIM**

 **ProfessionalYike: SPILL HOLY SHIT**

 **BestJeanass: I work my cousins bakery, yea? He's like. A regular. Insisted we always call him "toshi" so I didn't even know his full name or I would have sa i d**

 **BestJeanass: he's a super sweet guy? Moved to Musutafu about a year ago I shoulve made the conncection hol t**

 **ProfessionalYike: holy shit?**

 **BestJeanass: obvs he doesn't look just like that anymore he's a lil sicklier? Like his cheeks are all hollow and he talked alot about an illness getting the better of him but stilllll**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku I'm invested in this nonsense now you'd best keep us updated**

 **Small_Might: a;lsfjaosifdj I will I'm just dying a little I shouldn't know this**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yea it feels a lil like the govt is gonna snipe u for knowing too much**

 **Small_Might: at this point I'd take it**

He has most of Yagi's life pieced together at this point. Faking his death to ensure some kind of protection scheme isn't a bad idea and makes sense theoretically. There are just two things Izuku doesn't know, and unfortunately those two things are two of the biggest holes in the story.

1)Why would Yagi tell him his real name? It seems a little counter productive to fake your death and then rattle off your real name to any kid who asks.

2) Who was he? What made his life as a hero so dangerous that he had to kill his alternate identity to protect himself?

 _Who is Yagi Toshinori?_

* * *

 _(A/N)_ Really quick, Shouji heard where Iida and Yaoyorozu were, Uraraka floated him up, and he broke through the window which cracked under Todoroki's ice and secured the weapon. Bakugou probably would have been able to back Todoroki into a corner given enough time, but he a) doesn't know todoroki's quirk and fighting style, and b) didn't have enough time.

anyway, thanks for reading! smooches!


	6. The One with USJ

(A/N) trigger warning for a little bit of gore and a panic attack in this chapter. both are vague, but they're there

* * *

It's Wednesday. The third day of high school. It's still 10 in the morning. He isn't even halfway through the day and Hitoshi is already tired. He could probably nap for an entire week. Maybe more than that.

He's typically pretty good about staying on top of the insomnia. Yeah it sucks and he's tired all the time, but he hasn't been _this tired_ in…a good long while. He's practically falling asleep on his feet (and definitely counting down the minutes until lunch time when he can sneak away somewhere and power nap).

Some "logical" part of his brain is telling him that it's just because this is a new experience and those are always exhausting. Not to mention the fact that everyone at Yuuei is overly friendly and bound, set, and determined to befriend him (or talk his ear off, at least). He has hit his social quota before school starts every day so far.

So there are a lot of factors contributing to how much of a zombie he is today.

The first two classes of the day were absolutely torturous. They're all heading out to gym now, and as much as Hitoshi hates physical education classes with a fiery burning passion, he's actually kind of excited for it. Maybe if they're out and moving it'll wake him up.

Hopefully.

He's praying, anyway.

He's not sure how to feel about the fact that they're taking another physical exam. Most of the class groans, and though he doesn't say anything out loud, Hitoshi is definitely screaming into the void as he stares into the middle distance.

The groans of disappointment fade to a ripple of excitement when it's revealed that they can use their quirks for this exam "because the heroics courses take their physical exams with quirks so it's only fair if you do too."

Needless to say, the screaming increases. Thankfully the void doesn't ask silly questions. Nor does it scream back. What a good pal.

.

This is…great. Just stellar. He files into the line, waiting his turn for each of the assessment tests. Everyone is buzzing around him, sharing quirks and (in Midoriya's case) giving strategies and suggestions for how to use those quirks.

He's in general studies! There should be enough people in this class with non-physical quirks that he won't be the only one getting the same scores on both tests, but apparently not. This is Yuuei, after all, he thinks with a sigh. Can't expect to find other people like him.

Psychological quirks are rare enough as it is, and with Yuuei's bias toward physical quirks, he really shouldn't be surprised that he's the only one (some part of him still insists that there should be some kind of override for people with psychological quirks, because they're effective as fuck just not in the same way strength-enhancing quirks are). (Maybe he'll start some kind of protest. That would be fun).

It is kind of interesting to see what kind of quirks everyone has. They haven't had a lot of chances to play show and tell with them, so there are a lot of surprises.

For starters, Arai's quirk is metal as fuck. She and Midoriya are standing right next to him, so he heard when she said "It's called Dust. I can turn my body to dust and then reform it," so he really should have been expecting it, but holy shit was he ever wrong.

She's lining up with a few other kids for the 100-meter sprint. Midoriya grins at her and she gives him a thumbs up, before the whistle calls and the other three kids take off running. Arai doesn't, though. She jumps into the air and disintegrates. Just. Dissolves. Turns to dust.

The dust—which kind of looks like ashes, and isn't that morbid—floats through the air, carried by the breeze and whizzes past the other three kids before coming back together at the finish line. Arai, who is rematerializing significantly slower than she fell apart (it's awfully morbid. There are chunks of her skin still missing and watching her muscles and organs reform over her bones is something Hitoshi isn't going to get out of his head for a long, long time), claps and yells something. The other kids come panting across the finish, and most of the class is yelling curses along the lines of "what the fuck kind of quirk is that." Either that or they're complimenting her on her use of a probably impractical and terrifying quirk.

She eats up the praise with a grin that's more mischievous than it should be, and dissolves her hand. She catches the pile of dust in her other hand and oh god Hitoshi really didn't think he was queasy but seeing the cross-section of her wrist (which is still pulsing and very much alive) is making his stomach churn.

He still doesn't regret voting for her. She didn't make class president, but she's the vice and that's probably the better position for her. It'll certainly be more entertaining and less terrifying this way, at least. And watching Ueno try to deal with her has been like a live sitcom all on its own.

.

He can't help but notice that they're halfway through the exam and Midoriya hasn't used his quirk once. Now that he thinks of it, he doesn't actually know what Midoriya's quirk is. It's got to be something powerful, or he never would have considered taking the practical exam. But he didn't pass it either, so who knows? (that's not really saying a lot, only 40 people passed the practical out of the 500 or so that took it)

It's got to be something physical or combat-oriented. Or at least, that's the most likely. Most everyone in their class has already used their quirk on at least one test, or he's overheard them planning which test they'll use it on. And while Midoriya has been very vocal in helping people strategize how to best use their quirks, he hasn't once said anything about himself.

Honestly, Hitoshi isn't quite sure why he's so fixed on Midoriya right now. (that's a lie, he knows exactly why). He's been doing his best to ignore him for the last few days, telling himself that he doesn't need a distraction on his track to heroics. But fuck, Midoriya is persistent. Way more so than Hitoshi expected him to be. So maybe that's factoring into his fixation. But in all honesty, he can't tear his eyes away from Midoriya's arms.

They met for the first time in January, and it was cold so they had both been wearing sweaters, and their winter uniforms are long-sleeved, so he hadn't thought much about the odd splotchy coloring of Midoriya's hands. But now they're all in their gym uniforms, which are short-sleeved, and Midoriya's arms are exposed to the world. Which is a really weird way to phrase that, he _knows_ that, but it's the only way he can think of.

Midoriya's arms are absolutely covered in scar tissue. It's red and splotchy and pulls over his muscles in odd, and often borderline grotesque, ways. There are too many places where the skin is warped enough that he knows Midoriya lost more than a few layers of skin to the injury. They look like…burn scars? There's nothing else he can think of that would cause damage like that. It's like Midoriya stuck his arms in a bonfire. Repeatedly. Hitoshi can't tear his eyes away.

(Yeah he knows staring is rude, shove off)

So he's going to blame that for why he notices that Midoriya hasn't once used his quirk. He still pulls impressive scores on a lot of the tests ("I'm a gymnast; obviously I have good grip strength!"), but they're all the same as last time.

Hitoshi wishes his scores were the same as last time. They're actually lower now and he's going to blame that on the sleep deprivation. If only there was some part of this test that was like, "how fast can you force someone else to eat a bowl of cereal?" He'd be so good at that.

God, he's exhausted.

.

The fitness test, in the end, did very little to wake him up. If anything, he's more tired now and cursing his existence.

They're shooed off the field and Midoriya falls into step with him (as per normal) on their way back to the locker room. If only he could ask about all the scarring without sounding like a creep.

"So I uh, noticed you didn't use your quirk." Fuckin smooth, Hitoshi.

Midoriya actually laughs, like it surprised him. It's not an angry or forced laugh though, so Hitoshi is going to count that as some kind of victory. "Nah. It wouldn't have helped me."

"Arai can turn into dust and you found a way for her to use that."

Midoriya hums. "Yeah, I'm glad that actually worked. I was kinda worried that she wouldn't be able to pull herself back together and then we'd have to deal with her being half a person but thankfully not."

Thankfully not, indeed. Just watching the Arai rebuild herself for 45 seconds had been traumatizing enough. He doesn't want to see that every day. That's not the point though. Midoriya is redirecting the conversation and Hitoshi is going to get answers out of this kid if it kills him. "What is your quirk?"

"What's your quirk?" Midoriya raises an eyebrow at him, some kind of smile that can't mean good things pulling on his mouth. Hitoshi groans. Inwardly or outwardly he's not really sure. Probably outwardly, given that Midoriya laughs at him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want, but you did want to be a hero, right? Won't people have to know your quirk then?"

Hitoshi shakes his head. "It would actually be better if they didn't. I was planning on being an underground hero."

Midoriya's face lights up. "Like Eraserhead! Oh that makes a lot of sense, since you both have psychological quirks. I should have thought of that! Of course psychological quirks are more effective if people don't know what they are."

That almost pulls a surprised laugh out of him. "Eraserhead is actually my favorite hero," he says, a little sheepishly.

"Really? He teaches class 1-A, did you know?"

"Wait really?" Hitoshi would have tried to hide the excitement in his voice, but _oh my god this is_ Eraserhead _we're talking about._

"Yeah! I have a couple friends in his class, and apparently he's already expelled two students, so you know what that means?" Midoriya shoots him that same mischievous smile. "Two open slots in the hero course."

"Oh shit you're right."

Midoriya laughs. "Right? If that's not fate I'm not sure what is. But also can you imagine being in Eraserhead's class? He's so cool! I would love to learn from him. Not that I don't appreciate Midnight being our teacher, she's definitely one of my favorite heroes—she's my friend Chie's role model in life, actually—but it's different, you know? She's not teaching us heroics stuff because we're gen ed. But Eraserhead would be teaching us specifically how to be heroes and—" some kind of strangled noise escapes his throat. Hitoshi isn't entirely sure if that was ever intended to sound like a word or not. "It would be so cool I would die."

He can't help but agree, and he hums. Eraserhead being his homeroom teacher would be essentially a dream come true. And maybe Midoriya is right? Some people will have to know his quirk, so he'll have to get over his fear of telling people eventually. (god it's so fucking hard though).

"My quirk is called 'Fire Pull' by the way," Midoriya says. "I can pull fire towards me. That's literally it. I can't push it or manipulate it or make it bigger or anything. I can just sort of suspend it in space, so it can't go out when I'm pulling on it, but it can't do anything other than rocket toward me either." He shrugs. "So it wouldn't do a lot in the fitness test. Maybe if I was wearing some stuff that was fireproof I could pull something off, but our gym uniforms aren't great protection."

They're in the locker room now, and Midoriya's locker is close enough to Hitoshi's that they can still talk without disturbing anyone else. Midoriya pulls his shirt off as he says this, and Hitoshi's breath catches in his throat. The scarring, though not as bad as on his arms, covers most of his torso and even up the back of his neck.

Midoriya must see him staring, because he forces a chuckle and looks down at his arms. "They're not very pretty, are they? It's a backlash of my quirk. I'm not exactly fireproof, so when I was little and didn't know how to control it I got hurt a lot. I still do, actually." He rubs a hand over his forearm. There's a dazed look in his eyes as he stares at the ground. Or, in that general direction. He obviously isn't seeing what's right in front of him.

He shakes his head and snaps himself out of his daze, smiling at Hitoshi. "It's fun! It's a good, inconvenient quirk, but I'm doing my best with it."

Hitoshi nods. He's not quite sure what to say to that. "My quirk is brainwashing." Fuck there it is. No going back now. "I can make people do whatever I want if they respond to something I say."

Midoriya's eyes light up and he practically jumps with excitement (or maybe he does). "Really? That's so cool! That's—oh my god that's such a good quirk for hero work you're practically unstoppable! How much control do you have over people? Can they break out, or do you have to release them? Is there a time limit? Can you control multiple people at once? How does it work, can you show me? Just like, use your quirk on me right now I want to see. Only if you're comfortable with that, though!"

Hitoshi catches himself before his jaw goes slack. No one has ever responded like that to his quirk (the words "that's a villain's quirk!" will be engraved on his soul forever). "Uh…" eloquent as ever, Hitoshi. "There's not a time limit as far as I'm aware. People can snap themselves out it if they get hurt, otherwise I have to release control. I'm not sure if I have a limit on the number of people I can control? I know that the more people the simpler the commands have to be, and I start to get a headache if I overuse it but I don't know where the line is. I haven't exactly had a lot of opportunities to use it…" he trails off. This is uncharted territory and he can feel his stomach churning something awful.

"That's just! So cool!" Midoriya is practically bouncing, though, and Hitoshi doesn't know how to deal with this. "Really though, can you use it on me really quick? Obviously if you're uncomfortable you can tell me to stop asking and I will, I swear to you I will, but I'm dying you're quirk is so cool just like, tell me to put my shoes on or something."

"Sure."

"Really?"

Hitoshi activates his quirk and Midoriya's eyes glaze over. He almost considers making Midoriya do the chicken dance, but they have to be to their next class in 7 minutes so he should probably be responsible about this. "Put your shoes on the wrong feet." Or you know, mostly responsible about this.

Midoriya bends down and puts his shoes on the wrong feet with the semi-mechanical movements he has come to associate with his quirk. He's always wondered if there is a way to make people move more naturally under his control, but he's never had a lot of willing test subjects so that's still a path that has remained unexplored.

Midoriya straightens and his glazed eyes stare past Hitoshi. He doesn't really like relinquishing control willingly. It's a weird process, but he should probably get used to it. It's like… he has to sever the internal links he has with the person, which is really strange and makes his brain feel kinda fuzzy. He sighs and cuts his mental thread with Midoriya. The fuzziness hits his brain and he squeezes his eyes against it, but it fades into the exhaustion so it's not too bad? He's still really really tired though so maybe it is weird and not quite worth it. hmm.

Midoriya blinks as his volition snaps back to him. He sways a little on his feet before breaking into a wide grin. "That was so cool! Is the fuzziness a side effect? I kinda feel like my head is still full of static."

"I think so? If I break the tie myself I always feel a little dizzy, but it doesn't happen when the person snaps themselves out of it. I'm not sure about your end though." The only thing weirder than Midoriya instantly accepting (and praising him for?) his quirk is that he's now realizing just how much he doesn't know about his own quirk. A decade of people being scared of him for it will do that, he guesses.

"If you want, I'm one hundred percent willing to be a test subject for you," Midoriya says. "We've got to make sure our quirks are top notch for the sports festival, right?" He punches Hitoshi in the shoulder (not hard enough to hurt. Far from it) and grins at him.

Hitoshi feels himself smiling. "Right." Wasn't his whole goal to try and avoid Midoriya because he didn't want to get distracted from his goal? How did this happen?

There _are_ two open spots in the heroics class right now, maybe this won't be a bad thing.

Maybe.

Midoriya looks down at his mismatched shoes and sighs. "I really should have expected this." In any case, Hitoshi accidently made a friend and _that_ is just as weird as everything else as anything else here.

…

It's Wednesday, the third day of school, and they're going on a field trip! Yuuei is amazing! Iida's falling right into his role as class president, and is making quite a fuss about everyone getting onto the bus in an "orderly fashion." Ochako giggles. That's just like him, isn't it?

The Unforeseen Simulation Joint (or USJ, and that can't be a coincidence) is huge! Way bigger than she expected. And Thirteen is going to be teaching them, which is pretty much a dream come true.

This day cannot get any better, she's sure of it.

…

Izuku runs into Yagi after school again. Not literally, this time (thankfully).

He's a little more prepared to actually talk to him today. Significantly less shaken about the whole 'You're supposed to be dead' thing.

"Mr. Yagi! Hi!" He's out of breath. He may not have literally run into Yagi this time, but he came pretty close and is still trying to calm his racing heart.

Yagi smiles at him, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "Hello, my boy."

"Are you—is something wrong?" The question is out before Izuku can stop himself. In his defense, Yagi looks really unsettled. (something in the back of his mind screams that it's because he knows that Izuku knows too much).

Yagi shakes his head. "Nothing is wrong, young Midoriya." He sighs, his shoulders slumping. "I was supposed to teach class 1-A today, but my illness is acting up and Aizawa forced me to stay here."

"Oh goodness, I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

Yagi chuckles to himself a little. "I'm fine. I should probably take it easy for the rest of the day, though. Best not to aggravate it." He sighs. Something tells Izuku that he really doesn't want to rest. It's kind of hilarious to think about, actually, considering Yagi looks like a strong wind could knock him over.

"Yeah, best not to overdo it and make it worse," Izuku says.

"I was just on my way to have a cup of tea, would you like to come?"

What are the odds that he can casually pry information out of him while they're having tea? Pretty good, provided he has enough time. "I would love to!" Maybe he should take Mom a little more seriously when she calls him "sly."

They start walking through the corridors, Izuku once again taking two steps for each of Yagi's. "How are you doing, Young Midoriya?"

Izuku hums. "Good! I think I actually made a friend today, which is really exciting."

"Oh?"

Izuku bounces. "Yeah! I met him at the entrance exam but he didn't really want to talk to me the first few days here. We kinda connected today though? I think we're friends now."

"That's very good, my boy. I'm happy for you." They arrive at the teacher's lounge (of all places. Honestly he should have figured), and Kayama raises her eyebrows at them, but sips her (coffee? He has his doubts) and goes back to grading papers or reading or whatever it is she's doing.

Other than her, they're alone. Yagi makes two cups of tea, and he sits on one of the soft green couches in the room. Izuku takes a seat across from him, cradling his cup in his hands and sipping on it idly (it's really good. Way nicer than anything they keep at home).

Yagi says something about how hard teaching is, but he's enjoying it. "I don't know how Aizawa can just expel kids like they mean nothing. My first day here I walked into his class and felt like I needed to adopt every one of those kids."

Izuku barks out a startled laugh, and covers his mouth (why Yagi couldn't wait until he was done drinking to say that is beyond him).

"Give them a few weeks. You'll either start responding to "dad" or you'll want to drown the lot of them," Kayama says and takes another drink out of her mug. "Believe me, it happens every time."

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that," Yagi mumbles, staring at his tea like it'll help him.

"Do you think that about me, Kayama-sensei?" Izuku says. This could backfire really easily but he's feeling cheeky and it just kinda slipped out.

She laughs. Somewhere he wonders if he shouldn't have recorded this conversation. Chie would love it. "Midoriya you are a headache waiting to happen."

Not the answer he was expecting. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Far from it." he can see the smile pulling on her mouth, and preens a little bit. Mom has referred to him as her 'little chaos agent' for years now, he knows he's been the cause of a fair share of headaches.

"Miss Kayama is your teacher?" Yagi asks.

"Yeah! She's my homeroom teacher," he says. Maybe this will actually be easier with Midnight here. More odds of someone slipping up and saying something they shouldn't. How much does she know though? There's certainly a lot to probe here.

Yagi smiles. "That's wonderful! Miss Kayama is a great teacher and a fantastic hero! She actually interned at my office when she was a first-year. She was a delight, even then."

Midnight hums. "That's not exactly how I would put it." Izuku doesn't miss how her eyes flit to him. Fascinating.

"Oh? Don't do yourself this disservice, Miss Kayama. You're a very fun person."

She snorts, and Izuku giggles. "Aren't you supposed to be teaching today?"

Yagi freezes. It lasts half a second before he relaxes and starts talking again, but Izuku doesn't miss it. "Aizawa told me to stay here. It's the ah…" Yagi hums, like there's a phrase or word he's searching for, but 'my injury/illness is acting up' isn't all that hard to say? It's what he's said to Izuku every time they've talked about it. He throws a sideways glance at Izuku, who pretends to be very interested in his tea. "I'm out of time for the day."

Midnight quirks an eyebrow and nods in Izuku's direction (he's pointedly looking at a painting on the other side of the room. Maybe not pointedly so much as 'I'm trying to be casual but still give you the illusion of privacy). Yagi shakes his head. Izuku frowns.

"You should really be more careful with yourself A—." she clears her throat. "You're not as young as you used to be, and nobody here wants you dead just yet." She flashes him a smile.

Yagi chuckles, but it's forced and awkward. He glances at the clock.

"Are you okay?" Izuku asks. It's a fair question, Yagi doesn't look super great.

"Just worried, my boy." He glances at the clock again, and his hands shake a little. "I can't help but feel that something is wrong." he smiles, but it's definitely forced. "Comes with the business and all."

Izuku frowns. "Do you need to go…?"

Yagi glances at the clock again. "I shouldn't…"

"You really shouldn't." Midnight is almost glaring at them from over her mug.

His hands are still shaking as he sets his half-empty cup on the coffee table between them. "I'm just going to stop by. If everything is fine I'll come right back, I just don't feel right about this." He stands up and nearly knocks his cup over with his knees. "Shit! Sorry I need to uh, language. I'm –I have to go."

He's out of the room a lot faster than Izuku thought he could move. "Is he okay?"

Kayama sighs. "He's a reckless bastard, so probably not. But those kids are on Yuuei property and they have Eraserhead and Thirteen with them. They'll be fine, even if something bad is happening."

Izuku hums. Maybe it's just how Yagi was acting, but he definitely can feel a knot forming in his stomach.

.

He finishes his tea and head out of the school. He's got a fair amount of homework to do, and he has a lesson with Jian'guo-sensei tonight and he wants to get it all done before then.

He's barely outside the front door when Iida—wearing…a costume? It's silver and there's lots of pipes—nearly crashes into him.

"Midoriya! Are you okay? I didn't mean to hit you like that!" his voice is frantic and he's shaking pretty bad. Wait, he's in 1-A isn't he? What is he doing here…?

"I'm fine! What's wrong, what are you doing?"

Iida grits his teeth. "We were attacked by villains, I was the only one to escape. We need—I need to get backup."

SHIT. At least Yagi's danger-sensor is accurate? He'll get there before them. That's good. "I can help you get people. Midnight is the only person in the teacher's lounge so you should go somewhere else. Shit I don't know where everyone is—but I'll help you."

There's a spark of relief in Iida's eyes. He nods curtly. "Thank you," and then runs into the building, Izuku hot on his heels. Or, as hot on his heels as he can be when Iida has some kind of speed quirk.

He skids into the teachers' lounge. "Kayama-Sensei! There are villains—class 1-A was attacked and they need help!" he really doesn't know any of the details this sucks.

Midnight must have some idea what's going on, because she jumps to her feet, a curse on her lips. Her chair clatters to the floor behind her. "Do you know where the principal's office is?" Izuku nods. "Run and get Nezu. Ectoplasm should be in his office, stop there too. Tell them to meet me out front. I need you to be fast, Midoriya, can you do that?"

He doesn't trust himself to speak, so he bites his tongue against the burning in his throat and nods.

"Go—run like your life depends on it."

He nods again, and turns and runs out and down the hall. The burning in his throat only intensifies, but this is no time to cry. (Uraraka and Ei are in 1-A! Kacchan too—they're, oh god they could be dead).

Nezu is thankfully in his office, and jumps up quickly. "I'm going to get Ectoplasm, Midnight said to meet her out front—" his throat betrays him and he chokes.

Nezu puts a paw on his arm. It's almost comforting. "I'll spread the word. Thank you, Midoriya."

He nods again. His eyes are watering, and he wipes at them fruitlessly before turning and running toward Ectoplasm's office.

God, he feels so useless!

.

He follows Ectoplasm outside. Iida is still there, and he looks like he's in just as much pain as when Izuku saw him earlier. Nezu is giving directions and the teachers are splitting off into groups of four or five and piling into cars. Midnight and Nezu are alone.

Izuku's feet are moving before he realizes what's happening (he doesn't want to be useless).

"Can I come with you?"

"Absolutely not."

Was he expecting another answer? Not really. Doesn't mean he can't use his big, round eyes to his advantage. They're already watering (have been for a while). "Please Kayama-sensei, I have friends in that class and I won't—I won't go anywhere near the fighting I'll stay back with the medical people and I won't get underfoot and I'll do exactly what you tell me to no hesitation, just please I'm so worried." The tears spill over and he knows he looks pathetic, he just hopes it helps his case.

It must, because Kayama sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "Listen squirt, the only reason I'm saying yes is because I absolutely do not have the time or energy to fight you about this. But you will do exactly what everyone tells you to do, no questions, you won't get anywhere near the building, and you won't dare lift a finger to do anything noble. Got it?"

Izuku nods frantically and she sighs again.

He follows her to her car and they drive off campus and to a large building with a dome roof about. Most of the other pros are already there, as well as several ambulances and a good deal of the police force.

Midnight shoves him toward a man in a fedora and a long, tan trench coat (hey! Izuku knows him), who is standing by some people who are probably paramedics. "Make him useful, but make sure he stays back. What's the situation?"

"We were just waiting for you and Nezu to arrive. The signals in the building are jammed, so we can't reach anyone in there," Tsukauchi says.

Nezu is about to say something when the ground shakes and the air is filled with the sound of shattering glass, closely followed by a whole lot of shouting.

"What was that?"

"Everyone stay calm!"

Izuku swears he sees something flying up through the clouds.

"We need to get in there NOW," Present Mic says, gesticulating wildly. Midnight throws him a look that's way too knowing.

"We will, we will! We're trying to get the doors open. We're almost there," Cementoss calls from the top of the steps.

"Mic, may I borrow your speaker?" Nezu asks. Mic nods and picks the principle up and sets him on his shoulder. Nezu disconnects something from Present Mic's speaker-collar thing, and clears his throat. "Everyone, our best approach is to all enter at once. All Might is already in there, so our best quality right now is intimidation. There should be about 30 or 40 villains, and if we appear all in a pack we will seem more numerous than we are. Everyone please gather near the doors we will enter as soon as we can." He clips the microphone back to Mic's collar, and hops down off his shoulder.

"If I hear so much as one sideways squeak out of you, you will be out of this school. Understood?"

"Yes Kayama-sensei."

"Watch him," she says, pointing at Tsukauchi, who nods.

She gathers with the rest of the pro heroes at the top of the stairs and soon they're all pushing their way into the building. The doors close behind them, and Izuku is left with dread twisting in his stomach and no idea what is happening.

"Can't seem to keep yourself out of trouble, can you?"

"What?" Izuku says, turning to look at Tsukauchi with wide eyes. "Oh." He forces a small laugh. "I guess not."

"Hey, kid, what's your name?" One of the paramedics with pointed ears and small fangs says.

"M-Midoriya."

"Midoriya do you know how to treat shock?"

"A little?"

She glances around. "Okay I'm going to teach you. I'll be there working with you, but you're familiar with some of the kids, right? That'll be really helpful. Follow me." She guides him over to where a couple other people are setting up mats on the ground. "Blankets are here. If anyone comes out and they're vomiting, have dilated pupils, are cold and shaky and the like, we'll have the team send them over this way. You take them, wrap a blanket around their shoulders and lead them over to these mats. Lay them down and prop their feet a good 30 cm off the ground. Talk to them. Ask them questions. Make sure they're with you mentally and call us if anything gets worse, okay?"

Izuku nods. "Okay."

She claps him on the shoulder. "Great, kid. This is going to be rough, so don't feel bad if you have to step out, okay? We have no idea what we're dealing with."

He swallows. Yeah. He knows.

.

They're only in there for a few minutes—five, maybe seven—before the teachers start herding kids out and toward the paramedics. There's some commotion right at the beginning that Izuku doesn't see—someone carried out on a stretcher, there's a lot of blood and he's not close—but that's about it. There are a few teachers herding the students (in small groups) out of the building. They go to a couple of the paramedics up front before filing back toward where Izuku is standing.

He's handing out blankets to the people that want them, but everyone seems to be fine. A little shaken, maybe, but unhurt. Uraraka practically crashes into him, and wow she's crying and shaking and clammy and hmm. This is probably what shock looks like (he's never seen it on another person).

"Shh shh it's okay it's okay now," he says, wrapping a blanket around her and trying to secure it as much as he can when she's balling her fists in his shirt and sobbing. He shuffles toward the mats as she starts hyperventilating. He really, really wants to curse right now, but everyone else seems to have their hands busy.

"Uraraka. Listen to my voice. I'm going to count and I want you to breathe, okay?"

Her head moves. It might be a nod. He's not sure. He'll count it.

"Breathe in, 2, 3, 4, and out, 2, 3, 4…" he keeps counting, keeping a hold on her shoulders and the blanket around them until her breathing starts to even out a little. "I'm going to lay you down, okay?"

She nods again, and it's a little clearer this time. Progress! He hooks his arm under her back and guides her down onto the mat. She still has a death grip on his shirt, so it's a little tricky, but they manage. He kicks her feet up on the little pile of blankets and covers her hands with his own to try and get her to let go of his shirt.

It almost works? One of her hands lets go and grabs his hand instead, but the other is still latched onto his shirt. She's staring straight ahead Izuku gently taps her on the shoulder. "Hey. Uraraka. Stay with me, okay?"

She turns her head to look at him and her breathing picks up again.

"No no shh it's okay breathe with me." He counts again, squeezing her one hand as her breaths even out. She's starts crying again, but she's getting a little color in her cheeks, so he's going to count that as a win.

"I could have—they could have lost me," she blubbers through her tears.

He squeezes her hand again. "It's okay. You're safe now, it's over." There's a large portion of his mind that desperately wants to know what happened but unfortunately he's not allowed to listen to that voice right now.

"They couldn't even have come—" she sobs.

"Hey hey hey shh, just breathe," Izuku says, squeezing her hand again and adjusting her blanket so it's covering more of her.

"They're so far away, deku. My parents live three hours north they have no-" she chokes. "They have no idea."

She's more coherent now, that has to be progress. "I'm so sorry. But you're okay, you know that, right? You're okay and everyone else is too." he glances around to make sure he didn't just lie to her face, but no-all 18 kids from 1-A are accounted for and apparently uninjured. There's a couple of them that are struggling a bit, like Uraraka, but they got out mostly unscathed? It looks like most of the pros are still in the building so they're not out of the woods just yet.

"Deku I was so scared. There was a-a thing. It was big and it was too strong and it had too many quirks and it beat him into the ground, Deku." she sobs. "I thought we were going to die."

Beat who into the ground? Is Yagi okay? He can't even ask her that because he's supposed to be calming her down, not working her up. Good hell.

He glances around again and oh! Oh there's Ei and he actually looks fine. He's also talking (amicably?) with Kacchan and isn't that a sight Izuku never thought he'd live to see. Kacchan is actually talking to him. He's actually holding a conversation. Like a normal person. Wow.

Uraraka starts to loosen her death-grip on his shirt and his hand, drawing him back to the present.

"You with me?" he asks. Her tears are drying and she blinks at him.

"I think so," she whispers.

He smiles, and tries to make it as reassuring as he can. "Good."

One of the paramedics comes over to them and shoos Izuku away to fuss over Uraraka.

He doesn't have anything to do now and he is… not prepared for the anxiety to crash over him as soon as he stops moving. But hey! Here we are and he doesn't have anything to do with his hands and that's just stressful in of itself. This is miserable his head is pounding and he wants to throw up.

It's better than if he would have stayed back though. At least knowing that all of his peers made it out is a huge relief. There's just…. Someone who got 'beat into the ground' and Yagi who is really sick today and over his exertion limit (?) and hasn't come out of the building yet. Izuku desperately hopes that there isn't a correlation between those two things.

He glances back and it looks like Uraraka is sitting up now to talk to the paramedics. He breathes a sigh of relief. At least there's that.

He's half tempted to pull out his phone and spam the group chat, but he probably shouldn't and maybe Ei should break the ice on that one? He's the one who actually went through the whole thing.

God, he just feels so lost.

He wants to know if Yagi is okay.

He's also doesn't really want Kacchan to know that he's here because Kacchan looks angry and Izuku would like to live through today, thanks. So he ducks behind one of the emergency vehicles that's unoccupied and off, thankfully, and tries to get ahold of himself. What even happened? He was fine and now he's not fine and god, there's just a lot of things, aren't there?

Who knew Kacchan would push it over the edge.

(he knew)

.

Somewhere in there the kids from 1-A were taken back to the school on the bus they came on. He's not really sure when they left. He's also pretty sure the heroes have forgotten that he's here.

That's what he gets for hiding during a panic attack, right?

His own train of thought almost pulls a dry laugh out of him. It's not supposed to be funny, he should be more sensitive. Or something like that.

He's coming out of his hiding spot and looking around for Midnight when the doors to the building (USJ? He's heard that tossed around a few times) open and Cementoss comes out with Yagi, who looks so much worse for the wear, draped over him. Izuku's heart soars. Yagi is okay! He's okay! Actually, "Okay" probably isn't the best word to use. He's alive at least. Alive and on his feet, despite the blood dripping down his chin and covering the front of his shirt.

Is that…is that what his illness does to him? No wonder no one wants him to overdo it, that's a lot of blood. That's really. A startling amount of blood.

He shakes himself out of his train of thought and runs across the parking lot (walkway?) to meet Yagi at the bottom of the stairs. He doesn't miss how a lot of the pros immediately tense as soon as they see him.

"Yagi!" He skids to a stop just before he runs into him (that would be bad). "Are you okay? What happened?"

Yagi smiles. It's a little gruesome with all the blood, but it warms his heart all the same. He lifts his hand like he's going to pat Izuku on the shoulder, but stops at the last second, probably noticing that there's quite a bit of blood on his hand. "I'm fine, my boy. What are you doing here?"

"I came with Midnight—"

"Toshinori, for the love of God, can you stay out of trouble for _ten minutes_." Izuku is glad that Tsukauchi sounds this exasperated with everyone, but still, he giggles a little.

Cementoss helps Yagi onto a stretcher, but he doesn't lie down. A couple medical people swarm him, taking vital signs and whatever else. Tsukauchi comes to stand at Izuku's side, and sighs deeply. Yagi and Izuku share a Look.

"How much worse did you make it?" there's some kind of fondness in Tsukauchi's voice. Which isn't surprising, if he's using Yagi's given name. which means that Tsukauchi is probably his given name and Yikes, Izuku is really glad he hasn't called the detective by name yet, that would have been embarrassing.

Yagi winces. "In half?"

"In half? You only have an hour and a half now? good fuck, Toshi, you're going to give me a stress ulcer," Tsukauchi says, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This is fine. We can deal with this." He glances at Izuku. "Does, is…"

Yagi shakes his head. "No."

"Ah." Tsukauchi purses his lips. "What can you tell me?"

Yagi shifts and Izuku didn't realize until this moment that he had both of his hands around one of Yagi's. hmm. Weird. Not like he's going to move though.

"There was a creature. Their leader, Shigaraki, kept calling it a noumu. It responded to his commands and had multiple quirks. I don't know how many, but I think I saw three or four." He breathes, and it's wet through all the blood. "It took everything we—me and All Might—" he glances at Izuku as he says this "—had to beat it. We almost didn't." He squeezes Izuku's hands. He's not sure how consciously.

Tsukauchi sucks in a sharp breathe through his teeth. "This is bad."

Yagi nods. "Very."

.

Izuku will ask later what it means that Yagi only has 90 minutes (he has a certain amount of pain-free time where he can be active and fine. Any longer than that and everything hurts too much). He will ask later where All Might was (inside, still helping clean up villains. There were a lot). He will want to ask later who Yagi is (he will not).

But now is not the time for asking. Now Yagi lays back on the stretcher and is carted away. Izuku and Tsukauchi watch him go, before Tsukauchi sighs. "It's no wonder he likes you so much, you both attract trouble. Don't give me that face we both know it's true. So Midoriya, do your best to keep him out of trouble, will you?" He sighs and looks to the side. "He means a great deal to a lot of people. We need to keep him alive for at least a little longer."


	7. The One where we Consult Google Again

He's wrapped into giving a few statements for the police (legal stuff is _the worst_ but he'll probably have to get used to it if he's gonna be a pro hero, right? ugh) and Tsukauchi (Naomasa. His family name is Naomasa and Izuku should _use it_ ugH) offers to drive him home, which is really nice of him. They stop at Yuuei to get his backpack, and Naomasa spends the whole time asking him things about his interests (quirk analysis), how school is going (pretty well, it's only been three days) and what not. It's nice to finally get his mind off of everything, and by the time they reach his building he's a lot more calm than he was earlier.

Naomasa wishes him well, and Izuku wishes him good luck with the press.

Naomasa laughs. "They're already there, kid. There's a reason I volunteered to take you home."

"Oh."

Naomasa laughs again. "Go get some sleep, kid. You look like you need it."

.

The walk up the stairs to his apartment feels longer today. Or maybe his legs feel heavier. Or maybe he is more exhausted than he's giving himself credit for. Hmm. Either way, it takes way longer than he expected to reach his door, and he only remembers passingly that Mom gets off work early on Wednesdays.

Maybe she won't make a big deal about how late he is? He'd like to take a nap before he has to confront any of the reckless things he did today.

Luck has never been in his favor, though, and it certainly isn't willing to make an exception for today.

Mom is on him as soon as he's through the door, and he can tell she's fighting tears. "Izuku! Baby are you okay? I was worried when you didn't come home, but then I saw the news and oh honey are you alright?" her hands are on either side of his face and she's looking desperately into his eyes.

He tries to smile. It comes out weakly, and he can feel the familiar burning at the back of his throat. "I'm fine Mom, I'm okay, I'm—" his voice cracks, and he gives in to it. His backpack drops unceremoniously to the floor as he wraps his arms around her and buries his face in her shoulder.

She holds him until his tears run dry and his shaking stops.

He pulls back and wipes at his eyes. She keeps a hold on his shoulders, her brow furrowed as she searches his face for something. "Izuku, baby, do you want to talk about it?"

He nods, and lets her guide him to the couch. She sits next to him, and takes his hands in her own.

He starts talking, starting with how he found Yagi in the hallway after school.

And, well, it'll be a cold day in hell when Izuku runs out of tears.

…

He was going to help Mom cook dinner, but she shooed him out of the kitchen, insisting that he'd seen enough excitement for one day and that she could cook dinner for her son while he took a nap. It doesn't really look like a nap is going to happen, though. He's been staring at this ceiling for 20 minutes and though he feels like sinking through his mattress into the floor, sleep isn't coming.

He scowls, and rolls over to grab his phone.

The group chat is blowing up (455 new messages since he checked it at lunch) but he doesn't have the energy to open it. Chie's probably worried out of her mind, knowing her, and it looks like she left a couple messages for him in their private server as well. Figures.

He opens it and sends a quick "I'm fine, don't worry about me right now, I'll call you later?" and hopes it'll be enough.

Speaking of checking up on people though… he frowns, and composes a new text.

 **[me]**

Hey, you doing alright?

This is Midoriya, by the way

Deku

Or whatever

The response is not immediate (did he really expect it to be?) and he almost clicks over to the news out of habit. He hesitates, though. The whole USJ thing will probably be front page, and he's not sure he wants to get the story from some reporter. Ei probably dumped (at least his side) into the group chat, and he really should go read that at some point, but later. He's not sure he can handle it right now.

His pone dings

 **[Uraraka]**

I'm okay now!

A little shaken up, but I'm not hurt!

 **[Me]**

Oh that's good

 **[Uraraka]**

Are you okay though? what were you even doing there

 **[Me]**

Oh I'm fine. I bribed Midnight into letting me come

Is it okay if I ask you a kinda werid question?

*weird

 **[Uraraka]**

Sure?

 **[Me]**

Do you live by yourself?

 **[Uraraka]**

Yeah?

How did you know?

 **[Me]**

You were talking about it earlier

While you were going into shock a little bit

I wasn't sure if you remembered

 **[Uraraka]**

Oh ha yeah. My family lives really far away, so I've got a little studio apartment

 **[Me]**

Oh. I'm sorry

Do you want to come over tomorrow?

Since they're cancelling school and all

 **[Uraraka]**

Sure! Sounds great!

 **[Me]**

Fantastic! I'll send you my address.

Izuku hums and sends his location to her. It'll be nice to actually hang out with her. She's really nice, and with Chie all the way in Tokyo, he's a little desperate to make new friends. At least one. Please, for the sake of his sanity let this friendship work out.

Also, if she's only got a studio apartment, she's probably not eating well. He and Mom are very far from being rich, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to jump on the chance to feed her. The way to a person's heart is through their stomach, right? It's a foolproof plan. Ingenious. He's so smart.

Speaking of food, whatever Mom is cooking smells heavenly and he's not going to get any sleep anyway. He sits up, stretches, and abandons his phone on his bed in favor of following his nose.

The kitchen is warm, he's wrapped in his favorite oversized All Might hoodie (the one that always gives him sweater paws), and Mom looks up at smiles at him when he walks in. There's a candle flickering on the edge of the counter and its warm cinnamon scent mingles with the spicy curry Mom is stirring.

If he could live in this moment forever, he would.

"Hi Mom," he says, wrapping his arms around her from behind and resting his forehead on her shoulder.

She chuckles, reaching up to ruffle his hair. "Hi baby. Did you sleep well?"

He shakes his head, his forehead rubbing against the soft material of her knit sweater. "Couldn't."

She hums. "I'm sorry. Does curry sound all right? I would have made something nicer, but we don't have the ingredients."

"Curry sounds wonderful, thank you." He picks his head up, resting his chin on her shoulder. "Can I have a friend over tomorrow?"

"Of course! Who is it?"

"Her name is Uraraka. She's one of the hero course kids. I met her at the exam, and she's super nice."

"That's wonderful, honey. I'm glad you're making friends."

He hums, a small smile playing on his face. "Me too."

"Now if you're going to stand here and be obnoxious, at least grab a couple bowls. This is almost done," she laughs.

Izuku returns it, letting go of her and heading toward the cabinets. "Obnoxious? Me? Never."

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: and then All Might sent it flying! Like punched it and it just flew up. through the roof. Through the sky.**

 **BestJeanass: lmao bye bitch**

 **CrimmsonRiott: it was so cool if I wasn't already crying cuz I was scared for my life I wouldve burst into tears instantly**

 **CrimmsonRiott: anYway then AM had this relally intentse staredown with Hands Magee and I thought it was gonna end bad but then SNIPE SHOWED up**

 **CrimmsonRiott: actually errybody showed up but snipe shot the fucker**

 **CrimmsonRiott: and then Hands and the gate just zapped away**

 **CrimmsonRiott: and that's p much it? heros were there, herded us out, took care of the other villains**

 **CrimmsonRiott: good times**

 **ProfessionalYike: YIKES**

 **ProfessionalYike: glad ur okay tho**

 **ProfessionalYike: thats scary as hell**

Izuku frowns as he scrolls back through the chat later that night. He knew Yagi had been one of the first people on the scene, if not the first, yet Ei hadn't mentioned him once. Only that All Might had shown up and defeated the 'noumu.' (probably the creature with multiple quirks that Yagi had been talking about.)

His stomach churns.

There's really only one way to explain this, and he really doesn't want to believe it.

Really, _really_ doesn't want to believe it.

He wasn't planning on grilling Uraraka for information, he just wanted to have a nice day hanging out with her.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and all that.

…

Mom is gone for the day when the doorbell rings. Izuku jumps up from where he'd been lounging on the couch (scouring every official report on the USJ incident he could find, it never hurts to be too careful) and bounces to the door.

"Hi!"

Uraraka stares back at him, wide-eyed, before breaking out into a grin. "Hi!" (good heavens she's so cute).

"Hi." It's been so long since he had someone new over. He has no idea what to do. Chie always invited herself in and immediately crashed on their couch/floor. He's also known her for upwards of 8 years, so that's that. "Uh, come in?" he steps aside, and Uraraka shuffles in and pulls her shoes off.

She's looking around his apartment with her big, wide eyes and suddenly he is very self-conscious of everything about it. It's home, and he wouldn't trade it for the world, but that doesn't mean he doesn't feel weird about how small it is sometimes.

"I hope this isn't weird to say, but what's that smell? It's so warm." Uraraka says, following him to the living room.

"Oh! It's the candles. I think they're cinnamon right now? I convinced my mom to buy some a few years ago and she really liked them, so now we keep candles around the house all the time." Curse his tendency to talk too much when he's nervous.

"Really? That's so nice." Uraraka smiles at him again.

"You are doing okay, right? With everything that happened, yesterday?"

She shakes her head. "Yeah. I'm still a little shaken up, I kinda uh, watched 13 get dissolved by their own quirk and then when All Might showed up I ended up sitting with Aizawa until the other pros showed up, and there's not a lot anything can do to prepare you to watch over the bloody and unconscious bodies of your teachers." She sighs, and looks at the floor. "Sorry if that was too much…"

"No! No you absolutely have the right to be shaken up about that!" Izuku puts his hands on her shoulders. "And if you need to talk to anyone about it, I'm here for you, okay? I know we haven't known each other for very long, but really. I'm here for you."

Uraraka looks up at him and smiles weakly. "Thanks, Deku. I appreciate it."

He smiles in return, and pulls his hands back to his sides. "But hey! I didn't invite you here to talk about sad things—unless you want to—" she shakes her head. "Fantastic. Do you like card games?"

She laughs, it's a little forced, but they're getting there. "Sure! I don't know very many, though."

"Oh no worries, I can teach you." He pulls a couple pillows off the couch and throws them around the coffee table before grabbing the couple decks of cards he and Mom keep there. "You've played solitaire, right?"

"Not for a while."

He hums. "No big deal, I was gonna describe this as 'multiplayer solitaire' but this is fine. I mean, it basically is multiplayer solitaire, but that's not the point."

Uraraka laughs. "Whatever it is, it sounds fun."

He grins, handing her a deck of cards. "Believe me, it is."

.

"Nerts!" Uraraka yells, throwing her hands in the air.

Izuku groans. "I knew this was a bad idea… how are you so good at this?!" his head collides with the table, and a few cards flutter to the floor.

She laughs. "Hey! Don't scatter the cards, I want to know just how much I've beat you by!"

"No… let me lose in peace…"

"Absolutely not!"

He groans again and picks his head up before starting to count his cards while she gathers the ones in the middle. "I still had five in my pile. This isn't even fair"

"Sucks to suck, I guess," she says, a playful lilt to her voice.

"You're so cruel to me."

"You deserve it."

"I invite you into my home…"

She laughs again. "25 points. And you asked for this, buddy."

He grumbles something. "22—oh my word I would have beaten you I cannot _believe—"_

"But you _didn't_." Her gloating probably would have had more impact if her stomach had not chosen that exact moment to announce its presence. She flushes. "Sorry… I sound like a dying whale, I know."

"Nah it's fine." Izuku stretches. "It's probably time to eat lunch anyway. We have some leftover curry, if that's okay?"

Uraraka hums. "That sounds wonderful, actually."

"Fantastic." He stands, and she follows him into the kitchen. She takes a seat at the bar while Izuku fusses with reheating lunch.

"Oh, Deku, I just realized I don't know what your quirk is." Her voice tilts up, like she's asking a question.

He turns the microwave on and turns to face, her. "Yeah wow I forgot you didn't know." He hums. "It's called 'fire pull' and I can do this." He flicks his fingers, and the tiny flame from one of the nearby candles zips toward his hand. He catches it before it runs into his thumb and lets it dance across his fingers. Uraraka gasps.

"That's so cool!"

He chuckles. "You think so? It's really inconvenient. I can't like, manipulate fire or anything, I can only pull it toward me."

"Then how are you doing that?"

"I'm just pulling it to different fingers before it can touch me. I can also do this," he flips his hand over and cups his fingers, the small flame flickering in the space between them, "I'm just pulling it to all of my fingers , and because it can't go to all of them at the same time, it stays put in the middle. I can only do it with small flames though."

"Like an airplane!"

"Like what now?"

"An airplane!" Uraraka says, waving her hands around. "The air pushes up from the bottom and down from the top so it maintains elevation."

"Oh! Yeah actually it's just like that." He goes back to letting the tiny flame dance over his fingers (the motion is soothing. It may or may not be the reason he first asked Mom to by candles).

"Why doesn't it get bigger though? If you're pulling it in five directions, wouldn't it expand?"

He shakes his head. "Unfortunately, no. My quirk sort of suspends it in space, so it won't go out, but it also can't get any bigger."

Uraraka hums. "Too bad. That's really cool though!"

"Thanks!" The microwave dings and Izuku slingshots the small flame back into the candle before turning around to finish making lunch. (The first time he did that Mom screamed and scolded him for 'almost burning the building down.' He insisted that it was fine, and he did it all the time at the beach so he actually had really good aim, don't worry about it! She still banned him from doing it, but she's not home right now, is she?).

"Wait, if you can only pull it, how did you do that?"

He turns back to her and sets to two plates of curry on the bar. "Inertia. Just point in in the direction I want it to go, and physics takes it the rest of the way." He shrugs. "It can get a little sketchy sometimes, but I've generally got it figured out."

Uraraka hums around a bite of curry. "This is really good."

Izuku beams. "Thanks! My mom is a really good cook! She always wanted to go to culinary school, but never had the money for it."

"Well I would totally support her," she says, "but money is the worst, I hear that."

Izuku hums. "Yeah."

Is this a good enough transition to bring up Yagi? He's been waiting all day. It's making him a little (a lot) jittery.

Well. It's now or never, right?

He stretches, groaning a little. "Ah, I'm so jealous of all you hero kids." Best ease into it slowly.

Uraraka giggles. "I'm sorry, Deku. But you're competing in the sports festival, right? Your quirk is really strong! I'm sure if you make a big enough splash, they'll have to take you!"

She's so sweet god _fuck_ he doesn't deserve her. "Yeah but that's so far away!" he pouts, for extra effect. "And you all have such cool teachers, I mean, Yagi-sensei only teaches heroics! I'll never get to have him as it is!"

Uraraka's face twists up. "Who?"

The knot in his stomach tightens. He really, really hates where this conversation is going. Or, where he thinks it will go. "Yagi Toshinori? He's a teacher at Yuuei? I've run into him a few times in the halls and he's a really nice guy."

Uraraka is showing no signs of recognition.

He swallows and continues. "Well over two meters tall? Big yellow hair? Looks like a strong wind could knock him over? He said something about teaching 1-A yesterday, so I figured you'd know him…?" he trails off.

Uraraka shakes her head. "I have no idea who you're talking about. He was supposed to teach us yesterday?"

Izuku shrugs. "I could have heard him wrong, I guess."

"Well! If he teaches heroics, I look forward to having him!" Uraraka says, bouncing a little in her seat. "If you like him, he must be really nice! I trust you."

Izuku almost winces. 'you really shouldn't,' he almost says, but doesn't. He forces a smile. "I'm flattered. When you have him you'll have to tell me how he is."

She beams. "I definitely will!"

…

When Inko gets home, she finds her son and a girl (presumably the friend he invited over) dead asleep on the couch, several blankets splayed over the both of them as the credits of a movie play on the TV.

She smiles and starts making dinner. It's good to see that Izuku is making friends—at least this one. She was worried that he would face the same challenges at Yuuei that plagued him in elementary and middle school. It doesn't look that way though, which warms her heart.

The teenagers are roused by the kitchen aroma, and Izuku sheepishly greets her (probably embarrassed about falling asleep).

"Introduce me to your friend here," she says, gesturing to the girl, whose hair is sticking up at increasingly odd angles.

"Oh yeah uh, Mom this is Uraraka. Uraraka this is my mom."

The girl—Uraraka—smiles at her. "Hi Mrs. Midoriya! Thank you for having me over today!"

"It's no problem, sweetheart, you're always welcome here." She shouldn't regret that statement, Uraraka looks like a sweet girl, and if she's friends with Izuku already there can't be much malicious about her.

"Do you need help?" Izuku asks, it's probably habit at this point.

"That would be wonderful. Do you two want to peel and cube some potatoes?"

"Sure!" Uraraka says, bouncing a little on her feet.

She and Izuku are chatting and laughing together, and Inko couldn't be happier. This will be so good for him, heaven knows he needs it.

…

There's one more thing that has been nagging at him since last night, and he still feels sick to his stomach every time he thinks about it, but he's got to face it sometime, right?

Uraraka has been gone for a few hours now (it was really nice to have her over. Once he got out of his own head, they had a lot of fun together, it was really nice! She's also way more competitive than he expected her to be, holy shit) and the exhaustion is finally hitting him, so he excused himself to bed after helping Mom clean the kitchen.

Now he's lying on his bed under a pile of blankets and staring at his phone with his finger hovering over the internet browser, gathering the courage to check this one more thing.

This one teeny tiny thing that could confirm or deny what he's really hoping isn't true.

He's got to do it eventually, here goes nothing—

The Yuuei faculty directory is just as colorful as the last time he was here. All Might's page is one of the first ones, and his profile picture grins at Izuku from the screen. He scowls at it for a second, before clicking on the link. He holds his breath.

The page finally loads and his heart falls into his stomach.

All Might's real name isn't listed.

He backs out of the page and frantically starts flipping through all the other teachers' profiles. They all have their real names listed alongside their hero names. All of them.

All Might is the only one who doesn't.

He pulls open a search bar and types in ' _All Might real name'_

A lot of conspiracy boards analyzing interviews and random public sightings appear, but when he searches the names they provide, none of them bring back anything concrete.

He takes a deep breath and searches ' _All Might young'_ and clicks over to the images tab. A lot of the pictures are those he's seen before, after All Might's big debut when he saved everyone from that burning building all those years ago (was it 35? 40 years ago? Yagi would have been 25 or so then, good hell the ages all line up). He keeps scrolling though, and comes across a picture that makes his breath catch in his throat.

It's undoubtedly a picture of All Might. He's wearing one of his older costumes, one that he retired long before Izuku was born, but one he recognizes none the less. He has his trademark hairstyle and is grinning at the camera, even as he holds a small child in his arms. But there's more than that—his eyes shine differently, he's still muscular (but less so than he is now), his cheekbones are sharper, his face a little thinner…

Izuku clicks the link and it takes him to an old local newspaper article, dated for about 45 years ago (Yagi would have been 20).

 _ **Rising Hero Saves Young Girl from Villains**_

 _Suzuki Riku was kidnapped by villains two days ago, and was rescued this morning by rising hero All Might. He says he's happy that she's safe now, and will do whatever he can to capture the ring of villains who caught her. As of now, they're suspected for…._

He scans the rest of the article, but there's not much more on All Might himself. He scrolls back up and looks at the picture again. This is several years before his big debut, and a year or so after Yagi "died." They're…

Oh god they really are the same person, aren't they? There's no denying it—this is definitely Yagi in this picture. Definitely Yagi and definitely All Might.

He tries to fight the burning in his throat.

Of all the things he shouldn't know, this is _definitely_ one of them, and _wait shit—._ This means that All Might was seriously injured (about seven years ago, what are the odds of that, ay Kacchan?) (actually that's a horrible thought, even if All Might and Kacchan were injured at about the same time) (he always knew he was the villain there but yeesh, this puts things into perspective) and it's affecting his ability to work.

Yagi said he was sort of retired, but that obviously isn't true. And then, he obviously doesn't look very much like All Might. What with the muscles and all.

Izuku hums. There was all the talk of a time limit, and obviously All Might has two… uh… forms? Ways he can look? Bodies? He's not quite sure how to phrase it, but it seems likely that All Might can either be Skinny or Muscles with no in between. Or at least, not an in between that Izuku has seen. Does he only have a certain amount of time he can actually look like All Might? That would explain a lot.

He hums again, absently tapping his phone case with his thumb. He stops as his eyes go wide.

 _He only has ninety minutes._

Isn't that what he said? After USJ? That he only has 90 minutes now and oh shit that's really not a lot of time, is it? It's 90 minutes a day though, not total, thankfully (if he's remembering that conversation right), which is… better… but still! The symbol of peace is sick and he can only work for 90 minutes a day and that isn't good.

He wonders how many people know?

Well.

As of tonight there will be four teenagers newly in on the secret, so take that as you will.

 **Small_Might: CrimmsonRiott BestJeanass ProfessionalYike**

 **Small_Might: guyssss I need to tell you something you'd all better get into the server asap**

 **Small_Might: everyone**

 **Small_Might: everyone**

 **Small_Might: everyone**

 **ProfessionalYike: DUDE CHILL**

 **Small_Might: everyone**

 **ProfessionalYike: :/**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yea yea I'm here, what's up buddy?**

 **Small_Might: wheres kuma this is important**

 **Small_Might: BestJeanass KUMA WHERE U AT**

 **BestJeanass: I'm here I'm here sorry for trying to get some sleep like a NORMAL PERSON**

 **ProfessionalYike: since when were u normal**

 **BestJeanass: none of ur business**

 **BestJeanass: k k deku what's the tea**

 **Small_Might: ugh I don't know how to say this?**

 **Small_Might: remember that huge conspiracy I got myself into**

 **BestJeanass: which one**

 **Small_Might: a;lskfja the yagi one**

 **ProfessionalYike: yea yea I gotchu, what's new?**

 **Small_Might: I uhhhh may or may not have found out which hero he is**

 **CrimmsonRiott: bro really? Who?**

 **BestJeanass: yea I wanna be able to say which hero I sold cupcakes to**

 **Small_Might: he's All Might**

 **BestJeanass: bullshit**

 **ProfessionalYike: ? what? No**

 **Small_Might: I dont want to believe it either but its the only thing that makes sense!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: there's no way**

 **BestJeanass: deku youd best have sources or im selling u to the witches**

 **Small_Might: ok ok ok hold on let me prove this**

 **Small_Might: Ei, was there anyone there with all might at usj**

 **Small_Might: like, anyone else that showed up before all the teachers did**

 **CrimmsonRiott: … no …..**

 **ProfessionalYike: oh no I don't like where this is going**

 **Small_Might: I talked to yagi yesterday and he said that a) he was supposed to teach 1-a but his illness was acting up and Aizawa said he had to stay back, and b) he started getting really antsy and left to find you guys before iida showed up at the school looking for backup, c) I saw him come out of usj beaten and bloody and he said that it took everything "he and AM" had to beat the noumu thing**

 **CrimmsonRiott: fuck,,, no**

 **CrimmsonRiott: AM was the only one there**

 **BestJeanass: fuc k**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm plugging my hears and singing LA LA LA really loudly I SHOULDN'T KNOW THIS**

 **BestJeanass: congrats deku you're gonna get us all sniped by government agents**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but that's just one coincidence?**

 **Small_Might: AM's civilian name isn't listen on the faculty page—he's the only one**

 **Small_Might: he's super dodgy about his past**

 **Small_Might: [image]**

 **Small_Might: this picture**

 **ProfessionalYike: fuckfuCKFUCK**

 **CrimmsonRiott: oh my god I've never seen a pic of him that old**

 **CrimmsonRiott: young?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: fuc k**

 **Small_Might: he was 21 in this picture. 4 more years until he makes his "big debut"**

 **BestJeanass: guys fuck I was casual friends with AM**

 **BestJeanass: I sold him cupcakes and shit**

 **BestJeanass: I know that All Might's favorite pastries are those French (?) cheese pastries**

 **BestJeanass: I fu ckin g helped All Migh**

 **ProfessionalYike: guys I hate this so bad I was so young I didn't need to be taken out by a deep web hitman for knowing this**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku I'm coming for your head**

 **Small_Might: I know I know I hate this**

 **CrimmsonRiott: all might is my fucking teacher I'm never going to be able to look him in the eye again**

 **Small_Might: and like?**

 **Small_Might: listen this is a little of a reach**

 **Small_Might: I think he has a time limit? For how long he can look like All Might**

 **Small_Might: with the muscles and all**

 **BestJeanass: ?**

 **Small_Might: he was saying something about it. like, he's used the words "time limit" and currently that limit is 90 minutes**

 **ProfessionalYike: holy shit that's not a lot**

 **ProfessionalYike: that's…. oh god**

 **BestJeanass: god fuck I hate this**

 **CrimmsonRiott: so**

 **CrimmsonRiott: he's dying?**

 **Small_Might: yea? Maybe? He coughed up a lot of blood after USJ so I wouldn't put "dying" out of the question**

 **BestJeanass: I really hate this**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm just**

 **ProfessionalYike: trying really hard not to think about it too much**

 **ProfessionalYike: he's like the backbone of society he can't be dying**

 **CrimmsonRiott: god I feel sick**

 **Small_Might: I know I wish I'd never started looking in the first place**

 **Small_Might: fuck I knew this would get me into trouble one day**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I feel really sick guys**

 **Small_Might: Ei I'm so sorry**

 **Small_Might: please like, take care of yourself**

 **ProfessionalYike: don't stay here just cuz if it's making you feel that bad**

 **Small_Might: yeah that's all I really had to say anyway**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I'm fine I just kinda want to cry, u kno?**

 **BestJeanass: seconded**

 **ProfessionalYike: thirded. Seconded? Idek**

 **Small_Might: I've already shed my fair share of tears so**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm not even surprised**

Izuku actually snorts at that, which is a far cry from the awkward sniffling he'd been doing earlier.

 **BestJeanass: and on that bombshell I'm actually going to sleep.**

 **BestJeanass: or I'm going to lay awake reevaluating my entire life**

 **BestJeanass: because I knew fucking ALL MIGHT and called him by his first name no less**

 **BestJeanass: good fucking night**

* * *

(A/N) i forgot to mention this last chapter, but i'm going through some stuff (TM) right now, so i'm slowing updates to once a week. See you next saturday! I appreciate all the love and feedback I get from you guys, keep being wonderful! 3


	8. The One where we Declare War on Heroics

He's standing by the shoe lockers looking at something on his phone and definitely not waiting for Midoriya to show up, what on earth gave you that idea.

That being said, when Midoriya does show up, Hitoshi falls in step with him (ah, how the turn tables…) as they walk toward Midnight's classroom.

"Hey, so what the fuck." He internally groans. Eloquent as ever, Hitoshi.

Midoriya looks up at him, his eyes wide (his eyes are always wide though? he has big eyes). "What?"

Hitoshi gestures vaguely. "The thing. On Wednesday. I read the news, you were in some of the pictures, so I repeat. What the fuck?"

Midoriya sighs. "You know as much as me, and I bribed Midnight to take me there."

"You bribed Midnight?" good hell Hitoshi knew Midoriya wasn't 'normal' but that's something else.

Midoriya winces. "Not really? Kind of? More like she was backed into a corner and I took advantage of that." He shakes his head. "Either way, I didn't see any of the action. You know as much as I do."

Hitoshi hums. He knows a lie when he sees one.

He won't press just yet.

.

Homeroom starts with Midnight strolling in and hopping up onto the desk at the front of the room.

She clears her throat. "Unless you live under a rock, I'm sure you've all heard about the incident at USJ." A murmur sweeps through the class, which she silences with a glare. "First, no one was seriously injured. The media doesn't want to say that, but none of the students were hurt, and the three teachers there, All Might, Eraserhead, and Thirteen were either uninjured," Hitoshi sees Midoriya flinch at that, and he props his head on his hand, curious, "or will make full recoveries." Midnight continues. "Nezu and the rest of the staff here are working with the police to track down the two villains who managed to escape, and the situation is perfectly under control, got it?" Her eyes sweep over the classroom like she's glaring each of them down individually. "I don't want any of you to spread any panic, there's nothing to be worried about, got it?"

"Yes Sensei" choruses quietly through the classroom.

Midoriya is looking at his desk like it's the most interesting thing he's ever seen. He could always use his quirk to get an answer out of him, but there's a large part of him that's insisting he probably shouldn't fuck up this friendship so early on.

"Anyway!" Midnight slaps her hand on the desk. "What better way to unsettle a bunch of villains than to prove you aren't shaken by them, right?" Hitoshi is still drumming his fingers on his desk, watching as Midoriya perks up a bit. "The Sports Festival is in five short weeks, are you ready?" she practically yells, throwing her hands up in Present Mic's signature gesture.

Most of the class bursts into laughter, but Midoriya whips around in his seat and flashes Hitoshi a wide, mischievous grin. There's something dangerous glinting in his eye. Hitoshi rolls his eyes and purposely looks out the window, but he can't stop the smile breaking out on his face.

"I know it's always a hero course blow-out, but there are a lot of teachers that use it to rectify the entrance exam. There have been plenty of years where we move people in or out of heroics based on how the festival plays out." Midnight definitely looks like she's looking for a fight here. Hitoshi is willing to appease her.

"And this year," her voice drawls, and she stretches over her shoulder. "Rumor has it 1-A is going to sweep the stands. Of course, it's more of a challenge on class 1-B, but hey," she turns back to them, and Shinsou suddenly realizes why people call her a sadist, "if you all want to fuel the bloodbath, I won't stop you."

Midoriya turns to him again and nods his head toward the door. Hitoshi smirks, and that must be answer enough because Midoriya grins and turns back around in his seat. He's practically vibrating.

Hitoshi won't deny that he's excited too. This is exciting. A chance to prove himself and also start shit with the hero kids?

Like hell he's going to pass this up.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: wiat shit I just realized**

 **ProfessionalYike: didn't you say Yagi was registred as quirkless?**

 **ProfessionalYike: AM has like. The biggest, quirkiest quirk ever to quirk that doesn't make any sense**

 **BestJeanass: aren't you in school? Get of ur dam phone**

 **ProfessionalYike: ur in school too, get off ur high horse**

 **ProfessionalYike: this is a real, actual, valid question**

…

Izuku spends the day watching the hero kids. They look pretty normal, like nothing is really wrong with them. They're laughing and carrying on like nothing in the world is wrong. For all Izuku knows, nothing is.

Shinsou pokes him in the wrist with his chopsticks. "You're glaring at the hero kids again."

Izuku flushes, looking down at his lunch. "Sorry, I didn't realize."

"Do you ever?" Shinsou smirks at him, so he knows it's a joke.

"Hmm not typically, no."

"So," Shinsou says around a mouthful of hot soba noodles. "What did they do this time?"

Izuku hums. "Probably nothing. Just wondering if they're shaken over the whole thing, you know?"

Shinsou nods. "That's fair."

"I heard that some of the class B kids are going to 'scope out the competition'" he makes air quotes with his fingers, "after school today. You down to stick around for an extra hour and fuel the bloodbath?"

It's Shinsou's turn to hum as he pulls out his phone and checks something. "Yeah I should be fine. I'm always down for a good bloodbath."

"Perfect."

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: I passed AM (looking like AM) in the hall today and my bros called me out for staring**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but I couldnt stop thinking "isn't that a waste of ur time?!"**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but I couldnt tell them that!**

 **BestJeanass: Deku you've ruined us all**

 **Small_Might: I'm so fucking sorry**

 **ProfessionalYike: no youre not**

 **CrimmsonRiott: deku im gonna give myself away so hard im so bad at secrets u know this**

 **Small_Might: ei the fate of our society rides on ur ability to keep your mouth shut**

 **CrimmsonRiott: THAT'S WHY YOU SHOULDN'T'VE TOLD ME**

…

Izuku stretches, slinging his yellow backpack over his shoulders. "We could hang out in the library while we wait for the hero kids to get done with their hero class?"

"Sounds fine to me, but don't count on me actually being able to stay awake," Shinsou says. "I'm notorious for falling asleep in libraries."

Izuku snorts. "Yeah that's fine. I have some reading I need to do anyway."

Shinsou raises an eyebrow. "Anything I should be concerned about?"

Well okay. The correct answer here is 'yeah probably,' but there are certain things you can and cannot say to someone after only being on friendly terms with them for two days. "It's recreational, so you aren't missing any assignments or anything, if that's what you're wondering."

Shinsou hums as they start walking, and Izuku bounces a little. Shinsou snorts.

"What?"

"You're just… you're so excited about this."

"What's not to be excited about? I have friends in that class, so it's an excuse to see them, and I get to wreak havoc in the process. It's a win-win scenario."

"Should I be worried about you?"

Izuku pushes as much sarcastic exasperation into his voice as he can. "I'm trying to get into _heroics_ , Shinsou, I'm pretty sure any ill intentions I had were pulverized by my admiration for All Might long ago." His stomach twists. Good heavens the whole 'my childhood idol is very sick and can't do much hero work anymore' thing is more unsettling than he wants it to be.

Shinsou laughs. "Yeah sure, whatever you say."

"Are you doubting me, sir?" he splays his hand over his chest in mock offense.

"Always."

He tries to suppress a laugh and it comes out more like a spluttery choke. "Well I never."

Shinsou actually snickers at that, and Izuku feels like he's won the 'world's best friend' award.

.

True to his word, when they arrive at the library, Shinsou puts his head down on the desk and is asleep within minutes. Izuku chuckles a bit, but pulls out his laptop and dives into Research™ mode.

He hadn't gotten a chance to look anything else up last night, and Chie had raised an interesting question today—why was Yagi registered as quirkless? No one knows exactly what All Might's quirk is (some people call it a Boost), but it's obviously some kind of strength-enhancing quirk. And not just that, but it's the most powerful strength-enhancing quirk Izuku has ever seen (possibly ever documented?).

Izuku was registered as quirkless until he was nearly seven, but that's because his quirk wasn't exactly noticeable until the right circumstances presented themselves (namely, panic and the presence of fire), so it's understandable. There's no way All Might (Yagi?) could have made it through his young life with a quirk like that and no one noticing it. Even assuming that his quirk has gotten stronger as he's gotten older (as quirks are wont to do), that would still be a ridiculous amount of power for a young child to have. It doesn't make sense.

 _All Might quirk stories young_

The search is worth a try. Quirk mishap stories from when people are young and not quite in control of their quirks are very common, and there are certain news outlets that thrive on getting those kinds of stories from heroes.

The search actually pulls up several reports, and Izuku puts his headphones in to listen to an interview while he keeps scrolling through them.

" _I was quite the handful as a child,"_ All Might laughs. _"Ripping doors off their hinges and breaking glasses when I held them too tightly."_

The talk show host laughs. _"You're lucky your parents liked you so much! Just flash your watery blue eyes at them and all is forgiven."_

All Might chuckles, and Izuku frowns. _"Definitely lucky, yes."_ Maybe it's just because he knows to read into that, but there's definitely pain in his voice. He stops the video and sighs.

So. All Might has young quirk stories. But, he also doesn't like to mention his parents—or maybe it's a masked lie? Either way this is both lining up with and disputing the "Yagi is quirkless" thing. Fantastic.

He knew he wasn't going to get great sources, Yagi obviously covered his tracks very well, but ugh. Izuku would like an easy answer. Just once. One time. Is that too much to ask?

(yes)

(yes it is)

He hums and taps his fingers on the desk. The other hole in the story is Yagi's illness/injury. If All Might got into a fight bad enough that he got injured like _that_ , Izuku would know about it, right? He would have been eight at the time, and while he wasn't quite as into following the news religiously at that age as he is now, he would have picked up on a fight that big.

Wouldn't he?

 _All Might villain fights XXXX_

He types the year into the search bar and waits. The results are either fights he's heard of, or fights that aren't big enough to have caused any kind of damage. He huffs and keeps scrolling, looking for anything at all out of the ordinary.

Three pages in (you know you're desperate when…) he starts to realize something. His eyes go wide and he flails a little as he dives for the planner in his backpack. It's got a compressed calendar in the back, right? _right?_

Oh thank the heavens it does. He opens to it and resets the search, then clicks through ever article, marking an X on the calendar the day that it happened (week day line-ups shouldn't matter, not if he's correct about this theory).

Five pages into the search he looks down at his calendar and curses. The first three weeks of September are completely blank. No one saw All Might for three weeks at the beginning of September. He searches again for interviews or public appearances, but there's nothing.

The last week of September and most of October consisted of small fights. Low-damage rescue missions. Like he was laying low.

Like he was recovering.

Izuku swallows. It looks like the fight that caused the injury isn't on public record (the last thing recorded before he went missing was when All Might saved a family whose brakes died on their car and launched them off a bridge and into a river, nothing that would cause an injury like this).

Obviously All Might is hiding the injury (and with good reason) and obviously this fight was bad enough that if it was public he wouldn't be able to hide it.

This is… bad.

(Passingly he wonders if there are government records he could hack. Hospital records definitely, but those are always harder—and significantly more illegal—to get into).

"What are you doing?" Shinsou sounds groggy and Izuku instinctively slams his laptop shut. On second thought, that was a horrible idea and it's just making him look really guilty.

He can feel the heat flooding his face. Yeah this definitely isn't making him look any more innocent. "I'm uhhhh…" maybe this will be one of those cases where the truth is so ridiculous people think you're lying? How much does Shinsou trust him? "considering hacking government records because…" Shinsou quirks an eyebrow at him. "because I think they're trying to cover something up and I want to know about it?" not technically a lie, but not enough of a truth to get Shinsou into trouble if a deep web hitman eventually does come for him and his friends.

Shinsou stretches and yawns. "Is it bad that I've only known you for a day, but I'm not even surprised by that answer?"

Izuku forces a small laugh. More of a noisy exhale than anything else. "I'm not sure."

"Fantastic. If I asked you about it, would I be on the government's hit list too?"

Shit. So he did take him seriously. Did Izuku really expect anything else, honestly? "Not if you don't let anyone know that you know." He shrugs. "Or if I don't tell you everything. I'm not sure where the line is drawn exactly."

Shinsou squints at him. "It is so hard to tell when you're joking."

"That's kind of the point."

There's a pause, while Shinsou continues to examine him with narrowed eyes. Izuku attempts to look as innocent as possible. "That's fair."

He nods and Izuku breathes a sigh of relief.

"So. Government conspiracy. Sounds interesting, what's up?"

Not out of the woods yet. Shit. "It's uh…" Izuku looks at his hands in his lap, "not really my secret to tell. Like, it'd put someone I care about in a lot of danger if I tell the wrong person, and—"

"And you don't trust me that much yet." Shinsou cuts him off and Izuku's eyes snap up to his friend's face. "Don't look so surprised, we've only known each other for what, three days? I'm not going to put someone's life in danger to sate my curiosity, especially if they mean that much to you." He yawns and stretches. "Anyway, what time is it? When does their hero class nonsense end?"

"Thank you." The words are out before Izuku realizes he's saying them.

"It's no problem. But still. Time?"

Izuku flails a little as he fishes in his pockets for his phone. "It's uhhh…. 15:57"

"When do they get out?"

"16:10"

Shinsou groans and his head knocks against the table. "That's still like… 8 whole years away…"

Izuku laughs. "It's not even thirteen minutes, you big baby. And we'll spend at least 5 of it walking over there, so it's more like eight."

"Yeah that's what I said. Eight years."

"And I said you were being a big baby. Come on," Izuku nudges Shinsou's arm, "we've still got to strategize! We're trying to start a war here, we can't go in unarmed!"

Shinsou turns his head, but only enough that Izuku can see one of his eyes. The other side of his face is still plastered to the table. "You are way too excited about this."

"And you aren't? Shinsou, we were given explicit permission to wreak havoc. This is like, the opportunity of a lifetime."

"Oh, I'm definitely excited. You just look like All Might handed you a puppy."

Something tugs on Izuku's heart. "Excuse you! I'll have you know that the first time I met All Might I was too star struck to speak, and I'm nowhere close to that excited. This is slander on my good name." Hopefully Shinsou hasn't noticed his tendency to over-speak when he's nervous.

"That's what they all say." He actually sits up, stretching and yawning again. "So. Game plan?"

"Game plan! We show up and start a war."

Shinsou snorts. "Remind me to never work with you when we're pros."

"I would be offended, but I wouldn't work with me either, so I can't really blame you."

"Really though, do we have a plan or are we winging this?"

Izuku hums, sitting back in his seat. "I know three… no, four people in that class. Two I'm friends with, one I'm not, and one that I think I'm on good terms with? Not sure—it's a little blurry. So that's four of 18 people accounted for. The two I'm friends with will readily accept a challenge, especially from me, but it won't cause the chaos we need. Kacchan, though, is very easy to rile up and very loud about it. Keeping in mind the fact that we don't know how the rest of the class will react, our best bet is to use me to single him out and then egg him on from there."

Shinsou nods, tapping his chin. "So, single 'Kacchan' out and rile him up. Which one is he?"

"Blonde and spikey," Izuku holds his hands next to his hair with his fingers pointed out like spikes. "Always scowling. Has an explosion quirk."

"I think I know who you're talking about. And you're sure just riling one person up is going to cause the chaos we need?"

Izuku shrugs. "He's got a really influential personality. If he's upset or excited about something, it practically radiates off of him and puts everyone on edge."

"Sounds like a plan then." Shinsou pushes his chair back and stands up. "Shall we?"

…

 **BestJeanass: so I took a page out of the Book of Deku and did some reading**

 **BestJeanass: as in I looked up who Shimura Nana was**

 **BestJeanass: she was a super fucking cool hero, I'm surprised she doesn't have a place among the greats, I stan her so hard now**

 **BestJeanass: I can't find exactly what her quirk is called and all**

 **BestJeanass: but from what I can gather its another enhancer quirk, like AM**

 **BestJeanass: maybe that's why she took him in or w/e ?**

 **BestJeanass: anyhow I can't find what killed ehr**

 **BestJeanass: like. Theres record of a funeral and some couple ppl lamenting that she was taken too early but I have no clue what/who killed her**

 **BestJeanass: Small_Might you're better at this. Suspicious or nah?**

…

There are significantly more people crowding around the door to 1-A than he expected there to be. Or maybe he should have just been expecting it. Midoriya grumbles a little at his side before sighing.

"Do you think we can push through this?"

Hitoshi hums. "I can always use my quirk."

Midoriya shakes his head. "I don't think that's a great idea. Especially since you have a psychological quirk, our best bet it for as few people to know our quirks as possible."

Look at him go. Thinking things through. Hitoshi sighs. "You're probably right. Hold on, I'm pretty tall, I can probably elbow my way through." Not that he particularly wants to, that's a lot of contact with other people which is… not something he's super excited about.

"If you could, that would be wonderful," Midoriya says, rocking on his feet.

Hitoshi sighs and pushes his way into the crowd, Midoriya staying glued to his side.

The door to 1-A opens and he hears someone from inside the room squeak before the crowd around him erupts. He winces. He kind of expected this chaos, but that doesn't mean he likes it. Midoriya's presence at his side is almost comforting, though. He can feel where his shorter friend has a grip on the sleeve of his uniform jacket.

"Step aside, _Cannon Fodder,_ " comes a voice from inside the room. Shinsou can't see the guy's face from where he's standing, but he's 100% certain the owner is sneering something awful.

"That'd be him," Midoriya says at the same time someone from inside the room yells ' _Don't call other people cannon fodder!'_

"Who?"

"Kacchan." Midoriya is significantly paler now. Maybe it's the lighting? (Maybe not.)

"Ah. Well. He sounds like he's already in a bad mood, so this should be pretty easy. You ready?"

Midoriya nods. (Hitoshi can feel the grip on his sleeve tighten).

He pushes past a tall, sturdy kid with silver hair who's yelling something about class 1-B proving itself and steps into the doorway. Sure enough, who he presumes to be the owner of the snarling voice is standing there, snarling, with his book bag slung over one shoulder.

He does have very spiky hair, doesn't he? Absently Hitoshi wonders if it naturally looks like that or if this kid spends time in the morning making it look like that. He wouldn't be surprised either way.

"And who do you think you are?" Spikey sneers at him (calling him Kacchan feels weird, that's obviously an affectionate nickname, though why Midoriya would call this Pomeranian-wannabe a nickname like that is beyond him).

Hitoshi tilts his head, trying to look as bored as possible. "Scoping out the competition, what does it look like?"

He feels Midoriya step out from behind him as he rests his elbow on Hitoshi's shoulder. "Hiya Kacchan, fancy meeting you here." That's Midoriya's shit-eating voice, no doubt he looks every bit the part of the cocky asshole at the moment.

Spikey's sneer intensifies. "Deku." He spits the word, like it's dirty (it is, that's a pretty cruel nickname for someone). "What the fuck do you think you're doing here?"

"I just came to see your lovely smiling face, Kacchan." There's something off about his voice. Hitoshi can't quite place it.

"Fuck off. What's your problem?"

"Well you see," Hitoshi drawls. "Rumor has it the teachers use the sports festival to rectify the entrance exam. Those of us in General education could be moved up, or," he lets a sly smile creep onto his face, "heroics students could be moved out."

Midoriya takes the bait. "And with a face like that, I'm sure you won't be here long, ay Kacchan?"

He can't see into the room very well, but the students he can see look shell-shocked enough. Best to finish strong now. "It's good to see we won't have very stiff competition."

"If 1-A looks like this, we're certain to roll right over 1-B too." Midoriya straightens up and waves. "See you all in the festival!" he mimes blowing a kiss into the classroom. "See you on the podium, Kacchan."

The words are no sooner out of his mouth than the crowd of (presumably 1-B students) around them erupts and they're swallowed into it. Midoriya grabs his wrist and pulls him out of the crowd before breaking into a run down the nigh-deserted hallway and away from the commotion.

Once they're safely away from the crowd, Midoriya turns to him and grins (it wasn't the lighting, Midoriya looks much paler now than he does normally). "Do you think we were intimidating?"

Hitoshi ignores the lump in his stomach, and forces a laugh. "Please, you're way too cute to be intimidating."

…

 **ProfessionalYike: GUYS I JUST MET KUMA**

 **BestJeanass: you are literally sitting across from me get off ur dam phone**

 **ProfessionalYike: THEY'RE SO TINY**

 **BestJeanass: chie plz**

 **ProfessionalYike: LIKE SHORTER THAN IZUKU KIND OF TINY**

 **ProfessionalYike: SMOL**

 **BestJeanass: I invite u to my favorite café and you treat me like this**

 **ProfessionalYike: the world needed to know, Kuma**

 **CrimmsonRiott: wait real question who's the tallest here**

 **Small_Might: Chie**

 **CrimmsonRiott: What? rEally?**

 **Small_Might: I'm the only one who,s met u both yes chie is taller**

 **ProfessionalYike: YES BOW TO YOUR QUEEN**

Saturday is quiet and leaves Izuku snorting at Chie and Kuma's antics more than anything else. He spent the early morning training with his quirk at the beach, but had to leave as soon as the morning crowd got there. He has pretty good control over his quirk, and hasn't had a mishap in quite a while, but it still feels a little dangerous to be playing with fire like that when there are kids running around.

So he's spent the afternoon playing Overwatch with Shinsou (they agreed to link up as soon as they could) and chatting with his idiots on the group server.

All in all, a good day.

A quiet day, but a good day.

.

When Mom gets home that evening she is in a suspiciously good mood.

Not that she's not allowed to be in a good mood, but this is… hmm.

"My mom just got home, I've got to go."

" _Yeah that's fine. Tomorrow?"_ Shinsou's voice crackles over the headset.

"Sounds great. I'll text you." He logs off and looks over to where Mom is practically bouncing around the kitchen. She's humming too, and she has a goofy smile plastered across her face. Definitely suspicious. Time to investigate.

He stands up and slinks into the kitchen behind her. "Hey Mom."

She spins around and grins at him. "Hello Izuku! Did you have a good day?"

"Yeah, did you?"

"Work was long and there were a couple of frustrating people, but yes, I did. Can you cut some cabbage for me, sweetie?"

"Yeah sure." So, whatever it is, she's being dodgy about it. If it was something like 'I got a raise/promotion' or 'I met up with an old friend' she would have said it immediately, or at least would have mentioned it when he asked. The fact that she didn't is suspicious. Izuku is a good nosy son who just wants the best for his mom, so he's definitely going to bug her until she spills.

It's what any good son would do. "Is that all?"

"Well if you want to peel a couple carrots when you get done with that, I certainly won't complain," Mom says, stirring the garlic she's sautéing.

Izuku signs dramatically enough for her to know that he's joking with her. "That's not what I meant."

"So you're not going to peel a carrot for me?"

"No I'll peel you a carrot, but I'm asking you about your day! You're all smiley. What's up?"

Mom blushes, but tries to cover it with a laugh. "Can't I just be happy to see you?"

"Well obviously you can, I'm a delight," Mom laughs at that, and Izuku grins. There's definitely something up. She'll tell him eventually, she always does. (Doesn't mean he can't tease her though, when she does tell him.)

Mom laughs, which devolves into a content hum. She's still smiling, but it's softer now, and she has kind of a far away look in her eyes. It's the look she gets when she's daydreaming, or when she's perfectly content.

It's not a look Izuku sees very often, and he's very excited to see it right now. It means good things. Mom's been something of a realist ever since Dad left. She has a no-nonsense attitude and a 'you can't expect someone to save you from reality, go out and save yourself' mentality, which is where Izuku has gotten a lot of his life's philosophies.

So seeing her smile like this, with some degree of optimistic hope in her eyes—that's a lot. He's certainly happy to see her like this, and whatever it is he's in full support of it. Anything that makes Mom happy is 100% okay in his book.

"Izuku, we're going to have a guest over for dinner tomorrow, is that okay with you?"

Of all the things, that was probably the last one he expected. "Yeah, of course that's okay with me," he splutters. "Who is it?"

Mom's cheeks dust pink. "Just a friend."

Izuku's jaw drops. He _really_ wasn't expecting this. "Mom is this a _date?_ " he definitely squeaks on the last word, but can you blame him?

"No! If it was a date I wouldn't have invited _you_ , silly!" Oh she's definitely blushing hard right now. It's totally a date. Or she wants it to be a date. Or she wants it to turn into dates.

He's grinning now. It's involuntary, but Mom is going on a date! Maybe. "That's what they all say, Mom. I'll make sure to give you two plenty of privacy."

She gasps and swats at him. "Izuku! That's inappropriate." He can't help but burst into uncontrollable giggles, which he can tell that Mom is also fighting. "Peel me a carrot, you little devil." She's grinning, so the insult loses all impact, but he doesn't think it was supposed to have any to begin with.

…

 **[Me]**

We should start a club

 **[Shinsou]**

Why

 **[Me]**

Like. A fighting club. Self defense. Sparring and the like.

 **[Shinsou]**

I repeat. Why.

 **[Me]**

Sports festival? Dude ur a noodle

You can't put on much muscle mass before then but

It'd be good to learn how to use ur weight

 **[Shinsou]**

My quirk is psychological though

What are you getting out of this? Don't you know kung fu

 **[Me]**

Ahh why won't u just trust me a little!

Besides, its good to have more than 1 trick

And we'd be doing like, practical fighting. Kf is g8 but I use it mostly for my quirk

And I already know a teacher who'd sponser us

Also I really want to work with him, he only teaches heroics but he's hella cool

 **[Shinsou]**

I hope you can feel me sighing

 **[Me]**

Believe me I can

 **[Shinsou]**

Good.

 **[Me]**

:)

 **[Shinsou]**

Fine sure whatever lets do it

 **[Me]**

FANTASTIC we'll work out details on Monday

 **[Shinsou]**

This better be worth it

 **[Me]**

Trust me it will be

:D

The idea came to him early Sunday morning (3 am kind of early) but he figured he shouldn't text Shinsou at that time and when he woke up he forgot about it until now. Over 14 hours later.

He lets his phone flop onto the bed next to him while he rolls over to stare at the glow in the dark stars on his ceiling. Mom's dinner friend should be over soon, which means he should go out and help set the table. Hmm. That doesn't sound fun.

He needs to talk to Yagi about the club thing tomorrow. Obviously he's going to be occupied teaching heroics most of the time, but they don't have to be off school property until 19:00, which gives them 3 hours after heroics gets out, and Shinsou and Izuku can work on their own if they need to. It shouldn't be a big deal.

And besides, learning hand-to-hand from All Might is probably the coolest thing he can and will ever do in his life. It'll also give him lots of opportunities to confront Yagi/All Might about the fact that he knows. Which isn't something he wants to do necessarily, but is something he probably should do. Maybe he won't tell him that he told his friends, but he deserves to know that he hasn't 100% covered his tracks and that maybe he should think twice before giving people his real name.

Huh. Imagine that. Giving secret identity advice to All Might of all people. His life got really weird really fast.

The doorbell rings and startles him out of his train of thought. Mom's friend is here already? Does he even look presentable? He should probably look at least semi-decent, he wants to make a good impression, after all. Especially if Mom wants to date (?) this person.

He jumps up and slinks into the bathroom as he hears the door open. His hair is a mess (but what's new) and he absently runs his fingers through the curls as he scrutinizes himself in the mirror.

" _Yagi! You're early!"_

His eyes go wide. No. there's no way.


	9. The One with the Sports Festival Lead-up

(A/N) really quick note- "Zuku" is japanese for "sly"

* * *

The person at the door laughs. _"Sorry, is this okay? And I told you, you can just call me Toshi."_

This is… unreal.

 _Sorry Mom_ , he thinks, slipping as silently as he can from the bathroom back into his room and praying that that neither of them sees him. He shuts the door and dives for his phone, messing up the passcode three times in his haste.

 **Small_Might: everyone ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION ABORT MISSION**

 **CrimmsonRiott: deku what**

 **CrimmsonRiott: im scared what is happening**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku are you okay?**

 **BestJeanass: did the deep web hitman finally come for you? How long do we have to live**

 **Small_Might: YAGI IS IN MY APPARTMENT**

 **Small_Might: ALL MIGHT IS ERHE**

 **Small_Might: IN MY KITCHEN**

 **CrimmsonRiott: wow what**

 **ProfessionalYike: how the fuckk**

 **ProfessionalYike: did this happen**

 **BestJeanass: plot twist: yagi is the deep web hitman**

 **Small_Might: I'm hiding in my room rn but**

 **Small_Might: Mom was talking yestederay about having a "friend""" over for dinner today**

 **Small_Might: and ofc I teased her about it being a date b/c I'm a good son and she's lonely she needs to get back into the dating pool**

 **BestJeanass: is thisg oing where I think this is oign**

 **BestJeanass: *going wow fuck I can't type**

 **CrimmsonRiott: bro you can neer type**

 **BestJeanass: ah the irony**

 **Small_Might: so yeah anyway the door just opened and guess who the fuck it was it's fucking All Might he's in my kitchen and Mom has no idea**

 **Small_Might: my mother is on a not-date with ALL MIGHT god help my fucking soul I'm not strong enough**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku buddy I'm so sorry but I'm laughing like a crazed maniac rn**

 **ProfessionalYike: my roomie just asked if I was okay**

 **ProfessionalYike: you're living in a sitcom how did this happen**

 **CrimmsonRiott: BRO I'M PRAYIN 4 U**

 **Small_Might: thank u ei**

 **BestJeanass: Deku I'm fucking cackling this is too god**

 **Small_Might: you all are getting way too much enjoyment out of this**

 **BestJeanass: yeah obviously**

 **ProfessionalYike: keep us updated!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: GOOD LUCK BRO GO OUT THERE AND KILL IT**

 **CrimmsonRiott: wiat**

 **CrimmsonRiott: don't actually kill AM we need him**

 **ProfessionalYike: a;slkfja;lkj**

 **ProfessionalYike: smooches Izuku you'll do great 3**

 **Small_Might: I hate all of you**

He can hear Mom and Yagi talking and laughing from the kitchen. He scowls at the door. He should have gotten a name out of her. Maybe then he would have been prepared rather than having this just sprung on him.

He sighs. He's going to have to make his presence known eventually. Might as well be now.

And hey, maybe he can ask Yagi about the club thing. Take advantage of the circumstances and all that.

Yeah, that'd be good.

He stands at his door staring down at the handle for far too long. Long enough that he realizes he's wearing All Might socks and a matching shirt (only matching b/c they're based off the same suit). Part of him wants to scream and change immediately, but another part of him wonders if he can trip Yagi up with it.

Another part of him wonders if he shouldn't behave himself for once in his life.

(Ridiculous, who would suggest an idea like that)

"Izuku! Come for dinner!" Mom calls.

Well that settles that, then. He's not changing. He's going to go have dinner with All Might in a smattering of All Might merchandise with his mother who doesn't realize that she's having dinner with All Might all while pretending he also doesn't know that he's having dinner with All Might.

Fantastic.

At least Mom made udon and that's delicious.

"Coming!" he calls as he opens the door and heads for the lights in the kitchen.

Passingly he wonders if Yagi realizes that 'Miss Midoriya' is his mom. Midoriya isn't an uncommon family name, exactly, but there aren't very many in Musutafu. That, and the green hair should give them away almost instantly. Guess we'll see.

"Hi Mom! Hi—" he feigns surprise, letting his eyes go wide and his jaw slack (it's not that hard, Yagi is actually wearing clothes that fit him, and he almost looks nice when he's not wearing a godawful yellow pinstripe that's 6 sizes too big) (in retrospect, Izuku should have figured him out from the pinstripe alone). "Yagi-sensei?" he turns to Mom. "You didn't tell me you were having Yagi over!"

Mom looks genuinely surprised, but laughs. "I didn't realize I would have to. How do you know each other?"

Yagi shakes the look of surprise off his face, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I forgot to mention that I teach at Yuuei. I'm not one of your son's teachers, but he's run into me a few times." There's something gleaming in his eye and—did he just make a joke?

Izuku (he doesn't want to say he guffaws but that's the only word to describe the sharp exhale-almost-laugh-thing that comes out of his mouth) splutters a bit as Yagi laughs. "I didn't realize he was your son or I would have mentioned it, I promise." He looks between them for a second. "Though, I probably should have. You two are very alike."

"Oh it's no problem," Mom is still giggling, "what a fun coincidence, though! Izuku, honey go wash your hands so we can eat."

"Speaking of coincidences, how did this even happen?" Izuku gestures with wet hands toward the two of them. "How do you two know each other?"

"Oh! We met at work."

Izuku raises an eyebrow. "You meet a lot of people at work, Mom."

"Yes I know," Mom huffs, and she really looks like she wants to say 'but Yagi is special' or something along those lines, but won't in Yagi's presence. Not that Izuku blames her. (good heavens, All Might is in his home WHAT)

"It's my fault," Yagi says, laughing. "I challenged her, and it seems you got your competitive attitude from your mother, because here I am."

Mom laughs (giggles?) as they all sit down to eat. "Oh please, I'm not that bad."

Izuku and Yagi share a Look™ before bursting into laughter. "Mom, you are one of the most competitive people I know! What did he say to you?"

"That the Udon she served me was the most delicious I had ever eaten."

"Oh." Izuku reaches across the table to put a hand on Mom's wrist. "Mom, you are so valid and I'm glad you could drag him here to teach him this lesson that he so desperately needed to learn."

Mom and Yagi both laugh. "I have to admit my fault then, because this," Yagi gestures to his bowl, "puts everything to shame. Miss Midoriya, I have never eaten anything more delicious that this."

Mom flushes and mumbles a thank you, suddenly becoming very interested in her hands.

Izuku jumps on the opportunity. A chance to sing praises to his mother to All Might of all people? Golden. "Isn't it? Mom is an amazing cook. She always wanted to open her own restaurant, but she hasn't had the chance yet."

"Miss Midoriya, if you did, I would become your number one patron." Yagi looks so earnest, and Mom flushes a deeper shade of red.

"Thank you," she says.

"I only ever speak the truth."

Okay, Izuku knows _that_ is a lie, but the sentiment is sweet, so he'll let it slide.

.

"So, I take it you like All Might?"

"How did you guess."

Mom laughs at his deadpan response, and Yagi does too. "You should see his room! It's practically an All Might shrine."

Izuku flushes. "Moooom!" He knew this was going to backfire. All Might didn't need to know about his obsession with All Might. He didn't.

Yagi laughs, or coughs, or something but he's definitely a shade pinker than he was before. "All Might is a wonderful hero, it's perfectly respectable."

"You should see Mom's shine to Shimura Nana," Izuku mumbles, slinking down his chair with his hands covering his face. Nobody was supposed to hear it. (Maybe Mom. He teases her about it a lot, it's only fair).

"Izuku, it is not a _shrine."_ Mom says at the same time Yagi starts coughing.

Really awful, wet coughing. "Forgive me," he says, ducking his head and wiping his mouth with his napkin. He's obviously trying very hard to hide it, but that definitely looks like blood.

"Yagi, are you okay?" Mom's hand is outstretched, like she wants to comfort him but isn't sure if she should.

Yagi smiles (it doesn't reach his eyes) "Fine. Fine. Don't worry about me."

Mom looks less-than-convinced, but she respects him and backs off.

Nana (most of the things he read just called her that—she must have just used her given name as her hero name) is obviously another chink in Yagi's armor. It isn't one he's willing to exploit tonight, but maybe in the future. The thought makes him sick. Hopefully he won't have to use it.

.

Izuku excuses himself to his room after he finishes eating, and promises to do the dishes once he finishes his homework (he is done with it, but lying face down on his bed sounds pretty great right now).

He collapses onto his bed and groans into his pillow. What the hell. When did this become his life.

 **Small_Might: so uh update I just had dinner with my mom and AM (while wearing AM merch, which was kindof an accident wooops) and uhhhhhh**

 **Small_Might: I havent' seen my mom smile like that at an adult man since I was very very very small I'm still kinda shook so theres that**

 **Small_Might: I also kina maybe perhaps accidentally brought up Nana and hmm yeah that didn't go over very well shes obv a sensitive topic**

 **Small_Might: anyhow I just left them alone in the kitchen and am currently lying face down on my bed how r u all**

 **BestJeanass: Mood™ but like. Im p good. 2nd year is kicking my ass and I have so much homework what the fuck**

 **BestJeanass: but no drama like u have what the hell**

 **BestJeanass: also whats up with nana did u look into that at all**

 **Small_Might: ahhh not really no**

 **Small_Might: I probs should. She seems like an important piece in the puzzle**

 **Small_Might: except im starin at this puzzle thinking that I have all the pieces but then nana is not one of them**

 **Small_Might: so then maybe the puzzle is bigger than I thought? And all my border pieces are actually those dumb wavy ones that look like border pieces but aren't**

 **Small_Might: that metaphor got away from me**

 **BestJeanass: no its fine I get it**

 **Small_Might: thank u**

 **Small_Might: good luck with school n such**

 **BestJeanass: thx :p**

…

Yagi leaves about an hour later.

Izuku definitely wasn't listening to their conversation (he wasn't! the walls are just thin and heaven forbid he focus on anything he's actually trying to do), but he couldn't help but notice that Mom had caved and started calling him 'Toshi,' along with the insistence that he call her Inko. It's… he doesn't know how to feel about it.

He emerges from his room (he did promise to do the dishes and he is a good son, contrary to popular belief) to find Mom sitting at the table with a very faraway look in her eye and the same small smile plastered to her face that she was wearing yesterday.

"So. How was your date?" he said he was going to support his mom, he never said he wouldn't be a little shit about it.

Mom flushes a very dark red. "Izuku! It wasn't a date! And he's your teacher, that would be improper of me!"

"Mom." He was going to be annoying about this, but maybe this isn't the time.

She looks up at him as he sits across from her and grabs her hands. "Yes, honey? Is something wrong?"

"Okay first, he's not technically my teacher. He teaches at my school. There's a difference. And second, did you want it to be a date? Do you want it to be dates?"

"Izuku," she's rubbing her thumbs over the backs of his hands and avoiding his eye. "I couldn't do that to you. Not with everything your father—" she falters a little. "I need to be a mother to you first."

"Hey Mom. Look at me?" he squeezes her hands as she looks up and meets his eyes. "I'm not a little boy any more. Yeah I'm still a kid, but I'm nearly 16. You don't—you can start taking care of yourself too. And it's been eight years. Yeah I still think Dad's a bastard and I can't fathom why he left someone as wonderful as you, but that just means he doesn't know what he had. Right?"

Mom's tearing up now and yeesh that doesn't mean good things for his own tear ducts. Thus is life.

"And I know I tease you about it a lot, but really. You can start dating again if you want to."

She's definitely crying now. hmm yep. He really should have guessed this was going to happen. "Izuku are you sure? I don't want—I don't want to hurt you again."

"Do you like him?"

"What?" she blinks at him, a few fresh tears running down her face.

"Yagi. Toshi. Do you like him?"

"I—" she bites her lip. "I want to. He's—he's… I'm just scared. Hisashi was so nice when we met, who's to say—"

"Dad was charismatic, he wasn't nice. Don't kid yourself like that, Mom." He squeezes her hand and tries to smile reassuringly through the tears on his own face. "Yagi is a lot of things, but cruel is not one of them. There's—" _there's a lot of things I hope he'll tell you_. He takes a deep breath. "He would never intentionally hurt you."

"How can you be sure?" Mom sobs. They both are not short for tears, he definitely got that from her, but that doesn't mean it doesn't feel like claws on his heart whenever he sees her like this. There's a reason they don't talk about Dad.

"I—" there's no good way to phrase this. "I really can't. We can never be sure, can we? But I think, I think sometimes it's worth the risk." He's not sure he's talking about romance anymore. It took him a long time to trust adult men again, and Mom is, well, Dad hurt her worse than him.

They've only had each other for so long, the thought of letting someone else in feels weird. Wrong.

"And it doesn't have to be him. Yagi is wonderful and all, but really I just want you to be happy. I won't be home forever, and I don't want you to be lonely."

Mom chokes a laugh. "As if I could ever be lonely. I have to worry about you constantly, that's bound to keep me distracted."

He's laughing now, which isn't helping to quell the tears. "Mom, I'm serious!"

"And so am I! You're determined to be a pro hero, do you have any idea the kinds of things they face? I go a little more grey every time I think about it." She wipes the tears off her face with the back of her hand, but she's smiling now, so that's good. She squeezes his hand. "I'll think about it. Being your mom will always come first, though."

He smiles, and returns the pressure on her hand. "I know. I just want you to be happy."

"Thank you, Izuku."

…

He totally forgot to ask Yagi about the club. Shit.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: I can't believe your mom is dating AM**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Dad Might**

 **ProfessionalYike: ALSDKFJH**

 **Small_Might: IT'S NOT OFFICIAL**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Small Might n Dad Might**

 **Small_Might: Eijirou I will come for your knees**

 **ProfessionalYike: kinky**

…

He runs into young Midoriya again on Monday. This time it's more or less an accident; they're both coming around a corner and slam into each other.

"Oh goodness I'm so sorry, are you okay?" Midoriya says, rubbing his head—likely that was what had slammed into Toshinori's shoulder in the impact.

He can't help but laugh. "I'm fine, my boy. Are you?"

"Fine, yeah." The boy nods curtly, before his eyes light up. "Oh! Actually I had a question for you?"

"Yes?"

"Will you sponsor a club for me and a friend?"

There were a couple things Toshinori was expecting him to say, but that was definitely not one of them. "I… pardon?

"A club. My friend and I want to start a self-defense club. Where we train in hand-to-hand and what not. And I was wondering if you could sponsor us? We just need one professor to sign on, but if you wanted to come in sometimes and give us pointers that would be great. Only if you want to, though. you don't have to. But could you please at least sponsor us?"

Toshinori is a bit at a loss for words.

"Oh no I was rambling again, wasn't I? I'm sorry." Midoriya looks at his feet, and kicks at the ground.

"Don't worry about it, my boy! I was just caught off guard, is all." Toshinori forces a laugh. He expected to have to defend himself about showing up unexpected at the Midoriya's household, not this. "I ill definitely sponsor your club. Do you need me to sign anything, or…?"

"Oh yeah there will be a little bit of paperwork I think. There should be. I can find you during lunch and give it to you?"

"That should work. Meet me in the teacher's lounge?"

Midoriya grins at him. "Sounds like a plan!" his face falls. "Oh, and Yagi-sensei,"

"Yes, my boy?" the look on Midoriya's face isn't exactly convincing him that this will be an easy question to respond to.

"If you hurt my mom, I will skin you alive." The smile bounces back onto his face as if nothing had happened and he rocks a bit on his feet. "See you at lunch, Sensei!"

Toshinori is left staring blankly at the space where Midoriya once stood as he runs for his next class. It appears he misjudged the boy. He had assumed that Midoriya would one day become a force of nature—with a quirk like that and a reckless desire to help people (his rushing in to save young Bakugou one year ago could hardly be described as anything else) he was sure to make a fearsome hero.

But no. That look in his eye—this boy was a force to be reckoned with already. With some training and a few nudges in the right direction, he could be unstoppable.

Toshinori shakes his head and continues walking.

…

 **Small_Might: I just threatened AM**

 **Small_Might: to his face**

 **Small_Might: like. I looked at him and said the words "I will skin you alive"**

 **Small_Might: goodbye friends it was nice knowing you I'll be over here dissolving my body in a vat of acid**

 **CrimmsonRiott: goodbye deku it was nice knowing you**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I'll cry at ur funeral**

 **CrimmsonRiott: like a professional wailer**

 **Small_Might: thank u ei ur my only rl friend**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ProfessionalYike BestJeanass you hear that? Y'all r fake**

…

"Okay," Izuku hums and looks at the piece of paper in his hands, "Looks like we have permission to use room 307 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays."

Shinsou yawns and stretches. "Great. Today is a Monday."

"Today is a Monday, you are very observant."

Shinsou rolls his eyes. "You know what I'm saying. Are we going to check out this room or not?'

"Obviously we're going to go check it out. What kind of people do you think we are? We have four weeks until the sports festival that's not a whole lot of time to turn you from a noodle into a noodle with a little bit of coordination." Izuku grins as Shinsou snorts.

"Whatever you say, broccoli boy."

"Don't give me that face!" Izuku bumps Shinsou with his shoulder as they walk. "We're still going to be on school property, which means we can do quirk training too! I'm dying to see what the limits on your quirk are."

Shinsou hums, and Izuku can tell he's fighting a smile. "Yeah sure, whatever you say…"

.

Yagi shows up an hour in, and they change from experimenting with Shinsou's quirk to actually working on hand-to-hand. They don't do much more than stance and balance exercises, but Izuku is enjoying himself immensely.

Yagi isn't the greatest teacher/coach he's ever had (he seriously doubts that being the symbol of peace gave him a lot of practice in the art of teaching), but he's enthusiastic about it and Shinsou seems to be responding well.

They're both sweating and gross by the time 17:00 rolls around and Yagi suggests that they call it a day.

"Wednesday?" he asks, hovering at the door.

Izuku nods (as much as he can, while lying on the floor). "Yep. Wednesday." He pushes himself onto his elbows so he can at least look Yagi in the eye. "Thank you again for doing this."

Yagi smiles. "It's no problem, my boy. It's nice to be able to move like this again."

"He sure is something," Shinsou says after Yagi leaves. "You sure he teaches here? I think I've maybe seen him around, but…"

Izuku stretches, standing up and starting to clean the room. "Yeah he teaches here. Only heroics though."

Shinsou's nose wrinkles. "Really? Is he a pro?"

"Retired pro, yea. Illness that got the better of him in the end."

Shinsou hums before sitting up. "Would I know him?"

"He retired seven years ago, so unless you were super up-to-date on all the heroes at the ripe age of eight, probably not."

"Try me."

"I have fifteen notebooks filled to the brim with hero and quirk analysis, and I had to look him up when he told me." Izuku sighs. This lie is getting away from him. "I can't even… his hero name was something weird and in English I can't remember it now."

"Fifteen notebooks? That's a lot." Shinsou quirks an eyebrow at him.

"Technically there are 16. I'm only halfway through the last one though, so it doesn't count as being 'filled to the brim.'"

"Ah. I see." Shinsou takes a swig from his water bottle. "That is probably the single nerdiest thing anyone has ever said to me."

Izuku hums. "You've got me there."

…

 **BestJeanass: how secure is this server?**

 **BestJeanass: we always b talking about some really sensitive state secrets**

 **BestJeanass: can anyone hack inot it**

 **CrimmsonRiott: shit that's a really good point but I'm shit at computer stuff**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ProfessionalYike Small_Might save us please we r useless gays**

 **ProfessionalYike: do I look like any less of a useless gay to u ei**

 **ProfessionalYike: a pretty girl said hi to me yesterday and I almost burst into tears**

 **BestJeanass: oh mood tho**

 **BestJeanass: anywayyyy**

 **BestJeanass: how secure are we here**

 **ProfessionalYike: well. We're on the internet so that's always a risk. Don't open this chat over shared wifi. That kind of jazz**

 **ProfessionalYike: not sure if anything can leak tho**

 **Small_Might: to be safe we should delete anything related to AM**

 **Small_Might: and maybe develop some kind of code to talk about him?**

 **Small_Might: we should be secure here but I'll run thru the ~dark web~ and make sure nothing leaked**

 **CrimmsonRiott: we would be lost without u two**

 _ **CrimmsonRiott changed the chat name to Useless Gays + Deku & Chie**_

 **CrimmsonRiott: there perfect**

 _ **ProfessionalYike changed the chat name to Useless Gays**_

 **CrimmsonRiott: I feel attacked**

 **ProfessionalYike: ei we are all literally the most useless people on this earth you have to accept that eventually**

 **Small_Might: so nothing here is surfacing anywhere that I can see, but we should still delete everything we can. If you've ever done any research for this clear your browser history and your cookies. It won't be a foolproof protection but it should help a little**

 **Small_Might: sorry I think I ruined ur mood**

 **Small_Might: can confirm I am a useless bi disaster**

 **BestJeanass: k good I just deleted everything in this chat that could be incriminating to us or AM**

 **BestJeanass: but a code? Would that be good?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: have mercy on my poor soul I couldn't type in a code I'm way too stupid**

 **ProfessionalYike: ! Ei! Don't do urself dirty like that you're v smart**

 **Small_Might: ^^^^ but also it wouldn't be like… a code. Just code names for AM/nana/anyone else in involved in this conspiracy**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ohhh ok ok I can do that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: also u guys r so nice, I cry**

 **CrimmsonRiott: T-T**

 **ProfessionalYike: Ei, honey, one day I will meet u and I will give you 10,000 hugs u are the best boy don't u forget that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: T-T**

 **BestJeanass: seconded to all that**

 **BestJeanass: also, AM is to obv, what about YT?**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm down**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ^^**

 **Small_Might: ^^**

 **Small_Might: along the same lines, SN for nana?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: or just NN for her so we don't have the same naming code?**

 **BestJeanass: see ei that was genious you are smart look at u go**

 **ProfessionalYike: yea I like that a lot.**

 **Small_Might: fantastic. Look at us go.**

 _ **Small_Might changed the chat name to Semi-Useless Gays**_

 **ProfessionalYike: perfect**

 **ProfessionalYike: Anywho I looked up nn the other day an**

 **BestJeanass: RIGHT**

 **ProfessionalYike: MUSCLE WIFE CRUSH ME PLEASE**

 **BestJeanass: god she's so hot**

 **ProfessionalYike: I know. I watched a video of her fighting (please do it for your own sanity I was so turned on also she's so badass) and I burst into tears instantly**

 **ProfessionalYike: born in the Wrong Era to stan a Queen**

 **Small_Might: my mom has so much NN merch I'm sure shed let u borrow it sometime**

 **BestJeanass: deku I might have to take u up on that**

…

"I hurt everywhere."

"hmm"

"I hurt in places I had no idea I could hurt."

"hmm"

"Why the fuck to my forearms hurt. I wasn't aware that they could get sore."

"There are muscles there, obviously they can get sore."

"Yeah but how? What did I _do?_ " Shinsou moans, throwing his arm over his face so his eyes rest in the crook of his elbow.

Izuku props himself up on his elbow to look down at his friend who is still sprawled out on the matt. "Grip. We did weights yesterday, cleans will get your grip. Which is the muscles in your forearms. Which are, in fact, muscles and therefore can get sore."

"Fuck off."

Izuku doesn't try to fight the laugh that bubbles in his throat. "Love you too, babe."

Shinsou moves his arm just enough to glare at him. "They'll never find your body."

"I know they won't."

Shinsou continues to glare at him.

Izuku is not deterred. "Come on lets go another round. You almost had that hold," he says, standing up.

Shinsou groans and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I fuuuckingggg haaaaate thissss."

"Don't be a pansy!" Izuku says, kicking Shinsou in the ribs, who groans and rolls over onto his side, holding his middle. "Stand up and fight me!" Izuku takes a fighting stance, while Shinsou continues to glare at him from the floor.

"Fuck right the hell off."

Izuku grins. "No!"

Ah. He should have seen that coming.

His head is suddenly very filled with fog and he has no control over his limbs. If he could sigh, he would. But certain circumstances make that a little tricky.

He can see where Shinsou is smirking at him from the floor. The little shit. Shinsou sits up and stretches. Then hums, tapping his finger on his chin. The smile on his face has never meant good things for as long as Izuku has known him. Which is only what, three weeks now? But still. That smile means mischief and he is scared.

Not like, properly scared. More like meme scared.

"I'm debating, Midoriya. Should I use this time to let myself out of this torture early, or should I use this opportunity to get a straight answer out of you before I let myself out early?"

Hmm no. definitely real scared and not meme scared. In other news, Shinsou would make police interrogations so much easier. He should mention that. You know. When he has control of his mouth again.

"This can double as quirk training if you want," Shinsou drawls. He's stalling. Izuku wonders if the fear mounting in his throat will be enough to break him out of Shinsou's control. "We know you can only tell me things you know, but what about things you've forgotten? Rumor has it you can't truly forget anything, you just lose track of it somewhere in your memory." Shinsou shrugs, but the mischievous smile has fallen from his face. "Shit now I'm actually curious if this will work."

Izuku is still scared. Less so maybe?

"Midoriya." Shinsou trains his gaze onto him. "What's Yagi's hero name?"

SHIT SHIT SHIT

"All Might."

 _SHIT SHIT SHIT_ _ **SHIT**_

Shinsou's eyes go wide and he falls backwards. Izuku gasps as his volition suddenly snaps back to him. The fog is still thick in his head as he slaps a hand over his mouth, but the damage is already done.

"What the _fuck_?!" Shinsou whisper-yells. "Midoriya, what the actual, ever-living _fuck_ did you just say?"

Izuku lunges forward and claps a hand over Shinsou's mouth. His knuckles are white in the grip he has on Shinsou's shirt. "Shinsou Hitoshi so help me if you breathe a word about this to any other living thing I will kill everything you love."

He takes his hand off Shinsou's mouth. "I repeat, what the fuck?" Shinsou hisses.

Izuku rocks back on his heels and lets go of Shinsou's shirt to rub his eyes. "Okay listen, I didn't want to tell you this because it's really not my secret to tell. But uh, yeah. Yagi is All Might."

"How the hell—"

"He got injured. Really bad. About seven years ago. I don't know how it all works, but as far as I'm aware, that's his real body. And no, he doesn't know that I know." Shinsou closes his mouth and glares at something on the floor. Izuku sighs. "Look, I'll explain everything better later, but you can't tell anyone, okay? Not a word."

Shinsou is quiet for a moment. "Is this what you were doing when you were talking about government conspiracies and what not?"

He almost laughs. What comes out is more of a noisy exhale than anything else. "Yeah." He stands and offers Shinsou his hand. "Now come on. Training. Yagi should be here in a few minutes and you need to get your mind off this so you don't throw him off when he shows up."

Shinsou takes his hand and Izuku pulls him to his feet. "Yeah I guess." He shakes his head and glances toward the door. "I need… a few minutes to process. Show me that hold again?"

"Of course. It's like this…"

…

 **Small_Might: everyone can I add someone to this chat**

 **ProfessionalYike: ? normally I would be like "who? Sure?" but**

 **BestJeanass: we are in so much deep shit here**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ^^**

 **CrimmsonRiott: what about all the state secrets**

 **Small_Might: no that's why I want to add him**

 **Small_Might: he accidentally found out**

 **ProfessionalYike: IZUKU WHAT**

 **BestJeanass: THE FATE OF OUR SOCIETY**

 **CrimmsonRiott: and here we all thought I would be the one to spill first**

 **Small_Might: its not my fault!**

 **BestJeanass: how on earth is it not your fault**

 **Small_Might: he has a brainwashing/mind control quirk and just so happened to ask the wrong question**

 **Small_Might: there was literally nothing I could do**

 **CrimmsonRiott: a brainwashing quirk? Isn't that a little**

 **CrimmsonRiott: uh**

 **Small_Might: no hes totally chill I promise**

 **ProfessionalYike: then hmm sure I guess? We should be unanimous tho**

 **BestJeanass: this chat has been #squad for fucking years now**

 **BestJeanass: but sure I guess**

 **BestJeanass: if he's not cool tho I reserve the right to kick him out**

 **Small_Might: yeah that's fair. Ei?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I'm always down for new friends, sure lets add him**

 **Small_Might: fantastic**

 _ **Small_Might added Mindfuck to the chat**_

 **CrimmsonRiott: Mindfuck that's pretty good**

 **CrimmsonRiott: that's got me giggling 10/10 screenname**

 **Small_Might: hello everyone this is Shinsou, Shinsou say hi**

 **Mindfuck: fuck u**

 **Mindfuck: hello**

 **ProfessionalYike: I like him already**

 **Small_Might: I don't know what I expected**

 **Small_Might: k everybody else introduce urselves please lets make this as painless as possible**

 **CrimmsonRiott: hi I'm ei**

 **CrimmsonRiott: or Kirishima? Idk. Are we calling each other by what names I'm confused**

 **ProfessionalYike: y'all know u can just call me Chie I'm not going to change that rule for the new kid**

 **Mindfuck: I'm flattered**

 **ProfessionalYike: 3**

 **BestJeanass: same here? y'all are the only people who actually call me Kuma so I'm not gonna disrupt that for politeness or w/e**

 **CrimmsonRiott: not out yet or ppl don't respect it?**

 **BestJeanass: little of both. Legal name change hasn't happened so school, also my parents are hm. Less than thrilled.**

 **CrimmsonRiott: kuma I'm sending u hugs ily**

 **ProfessionalYike: HUGS KUMA WE GOTTA MEET UP AGAIN SO I CAN GIVE YOU MORE HUGS**

 **Mindfuck: are you guys always like this**

 **Small_Might: like what**

 **ProfessionalYike: if you mean mushy and gay and supportive of each other**

 **ProfessionalYike: then yes**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ^^^**

 **BestJeanass: youll get used to it**

 **Mindfuck: Midoriya what did you get me into**

 **Small_Might: excellent question**

 **Small_Might: but as per rules you don't get to call me Midoriya here**

 **CrimmsonRiott: DEKU**

 **BestJeanass: DEKU**

 **Mindfuck: doesn't the asshole kid call him that?**

 **ProfessionalYike: hmm yea but we reclaimed it. Bakugou hates it, so it's p good revenge**

 **CrimmsonRiott: wait a holy heckin second**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Bakugou is Kacchan?**

 **Small_Might: yes?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: as in the Bakugou in my class is Kacchan**

 **Small_Might: yes?**

 **Small_Might: were u not there when we showed up to taunt u guys I called him Kacchan to his face**

 **CrimmsonRiott: whoops guys I am so sorry but I may or may not have hit on him yesterday**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I said I was gay, not that I could hear**

 **BestJeanass: PFFFFFFFFT**

"I have literally no idea what is going on right now," Shinsou says, staring at phone.

Izuku shifts on his bed, so he's propped up on his elbows. He can't see Shinsou's face (his head is resting on the small of Izuku's back) but he can see him idly tracing patterns in the air with the foot that's propped up on his knee. "You'll catch on eventually. We've all been friends for years, so there's uh… a lot of inside jokes. I'll explain anything you need me to."

Shinsou hums. "You all go by your first names, right?"

"Yeah, but like I said. We've been friends for years you don't have to."

"I kind of want to, but…" Shinsou pauses. "I don't really like being called Hitoshi." He says his own name like it's a dirty word.

He really wishes he could see Shinsou's face. "You don't have to. You could go by a nickname if you want! Like Ei. His actual name is Eijirou but we all call him Ei. Or me. Chie is the only one who calls me Izuku, all my other friends call me Deku."

Shinsou is quiet.

 **Mindfuck: you guys can call me Toshi?**

 **ProfessionalYike: TOSHI THAT'S SO CUTE**

 **BestJeanass: a nickname?**

 **Mindfuck: yeah. My dad calls me that.**

 **Small_Might: can I call you toshi irl or is that too much**

 **Mindfuck: if you want?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: deku scale of 1 to 10 how confusing is this going to be for you**

 **Small_Might: Ei I'm not going to call yagi "toshi" ever once in my life**

 **Small_Might: and toshi u don't have to call me Midoriya if you don't want I have like**

 **Small_Might: eight other names**

 **ProfessionalYike: CALL HIM ZUKU**

 **Mindfuck: I was going to ask why I would call him sly**

 **Mindfuck: but then I thought about it for more than two seconds**

Izuku snorts. "That was low."

"It's true though. And a good pun, I can't believe I didn't see it before now."

"Honestly I'm surprised that more people don't see it. It's been my Mom's nickname for me since forever."

"Once again, this hardly surprises me."

…

"Toshi!" Inko feels the smile break out on her face before she's even done saying his name.

He smiles back at her. "Miss Midoriya—ah, Inko. Hello." He's blushing.

"I haven't seen you around in a while, how are you?" She says. "Oh, and what would you like?"

"Just the usual, and I'm doing well. Teaching is," he sighs, "hard."

Inko laughs. "I don't doubt it! I hope Izuku isn't giving you too much trouble?"

"No! Your son is wonderful to work with. And, ah, speaking of."

"Hmm?"

"The Sports festival is this weekend, and since your son is competing, I was wondering if you would want to, ah, come with me? I have a plus one for the teacher's box and couldn't think of anyone else—not that you were a last resort I just—"

Inko laughs, cutting him off. "Toshi, I would love to come. Thank you." He's blushing a violent shade of red, and it's honestly very cute. Not that she thinks he's cute or anything! It's just the fact that he's so flustered over this is endearing. "I'll meet you there? When does it start?"

"The event should start at 10, but if you want to see some of the festivities beforehand…"

"I'll be there at nine, then," Inko says. "Thank you for inviting me."

Toshi smiles at her, and there's something awfully soft in his sunken blue eyes. "It's my pleasure, Inko."

…

 **BestJeanass: Small_Might have u looked up NN yet**

 **BestJeanass: like for research purposes**

 **Small_Might: nO**

 **BestJeanass: WTF it's been like a month wtf r u even doing**

 **Small_Might: crying, mostly**

 **BestJeanass: respectable, have a nice day**

 **BestJeanass: u should look her up tho I feel like shes important**

 **Small_Might: yea I will. SF is this week lemme get thru that first**

 **BestJeanass: k**

…

"So."

"So."

Shinsou glares at him from across the room. Izuku puts on his best innocent face and continues to fold up the sparring mat.

"The Sports Festival is Saturday."

"I hadn't noticed."

"Zuku I will steal your toes."

Izuku laughs. "Strong words from someone who claims to not have a foot fetish."

Shinsou groans. "Do we have a game plan or not?"

"Go fight win."

"Helpful, as always."

"I live to serve." Izuku laughs, leaning against the closet door. "We don't know what any of the events will be until the day of, so there isn't a whole lot of planning we can do."

"Surely you have something. Your mind moves at a million miles a minute, there's no way you don't have some kind of plan." Shinsou crosses his arms.

Izuku hums. "Yeah okay I have a baby plan."

Shinsou quirks an eyebrow. "And what is it?"

"I don't think we should help each other."

"Interesting, tell me more," Shinsou says, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulder.

"It's like…" Izuku gestures vaguely to the air in front of him. "For you especially, your best chance is to keep your quirk as under-wraps as possible, right?"

"Right."

"And the final event is always some kind of one-on-one competition. So if you want to have a better chance in that event, then you need to make sure that as few people know your quirk as possible."

"And how, pray tell, is you not helping me going to secure me a spot in the final event?"

"Yeah no that's unrelated. Its more a matter of we made ourselves known to the hero classes, so now we're targets, yeah?" Shinsou nods along with him, so Izuku keeps talking. "And if we're working together, we become a bigger target. And especially because I know so many people in the hero course, and Kacchan especially has it out for me, you'd have better chances if you don't stick with me."

Shinsou hums, before squinting against the outdoor sun. "I guess that makes sense. God, why does the sun have to be like that."

"Hey be nice, the sun can't help that it's a giant flaming ball of gas."

Shinsou grumbles something unintelligible. "Ei knows my quirk though."

"And he swore up and down not to tell anyone. We've all got a pact not to sabotage each other, and Ei's not the kind of guy to go back on a promise like that. Goes against his 'manliness' code and all."

Shinsou snorts. "If you say so."

Izuku hums. "Wait, you know what would be great? If you did the 'forget' trick with your mind control."

"Oh," Shinsou starts. "Oh yea wow that's actually a good idea."

"Keeps the number of witnesses to a minimum and then you can still use your quirk."

Shinsou shakes his head. "Midoriya you are a sly motherfucker, but I won't deny that it's one of your better qualities."

Izuku throws his head back and laughs.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: KUMA WE HAVE SO MANY FRIENDS IN THE SF THIS YEAR**

 **ProfessionalYike: YOU SHOULD COME OVER WE CAN HAVE A WATCH PARTY**

 **BestJeanass: I'm down**

 **CrimmsonRiott: CHEER ME ON PLZ THANK**

 **ProfessionalYike: OF COURSE EI! 3**

 **CrimmsonRiott: 3**

 **Small_Might: Ei you'll do great! 3**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you too, deku!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you too, toshi!**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but starting midnight on Saturday we are no longer friends, we are rivals**

 **CrimmsonRiott: PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD, MEN**

 **CrimmsonRiott: THIS DAY WILL DETERMINE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES**

 **Mindfuck: are you always so dramatic**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Toshi I'm gay, did you expect anything else**

 **Small_Might: GOOD LUCK EVERYONE WE'LL ALL DO GREAT**


	10. The One with the Sports Festival

**CrimmsonRiott: IT IS THE DAWN OF THE FINAL DAY**

 **CrimmsonRiott: WE ARE NO LONGER BROTHERS**

 **CrimmsonRiott: BUT ENEMIES AT WAR**

 **BestJeanass: fucking hell Ei its midnight you have to compete tomorrow go the fuck to sleep**

 **BestJeanass: today, whatever**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I know! I'm just so excited I couldn't sleep :D**

…

"The festival doesn't start until 10, why do we have to be here at eight fucking thirty," Hitoshi moans. It's way too early for this. Saturdays are for sleep.

"I'm sure there's debriefing stuff." Midoriya shrugs. "And personally I'd rather be here early than have to fight the crowd, you know?"

There he goes. Talking sense again. Despicable.

Midoriya laughs. "You're making the face again."

"What face?"

"The face you make when you know I'm right but you don't want to admit it?"

"I don't have a face like that," Hitoshi crosses his arms and most definitely does not pout.

"Yes you do, you're making it again."

Shinsou scowls, and Midoriya sticks his tongue out at him.

"Okay losers, get to the locker rooms and get changed. Gym uniforms for everyone!" Kayama-sensei yells. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun and she's wearing loose sweat pants, which was certainly a shock when she first walked in. Out of context and all. (He'd caught Midoriya snapping a picture of her. _"It's for Chie. She practically worships the ground midnight walks on, she'll love this"_ )

There's some grumbling, but everyone shuffles out of the classroom and toward the locker rooms. Pity, too. Hitoshi was hoping he'd just get to wear his own track pants and shirt, but the uniforms probably made more practical sense.

.

It's always an awkward question to ask, and there's really no delicate way to do it, but. "Are you going to be okay?"

Midoriya looks up at him with wide eyes.

Hitoshi sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "You know. On tv. With your scars and all. Are you going to…?"

"Oh." Midoriya looks down at his arms, laid bare to the world by the lack of sleeves on the gym uniforms. The short sleeves will be nice, because May has been warm already, and they're only two weeks in, but that's beside the point. "Yeah I'll be fine. I only really notice them when people are obviously staring, you know? But I'm not super self-conscious about them if that's what you're asking. I used to be, but I've made peace with it." He shrugs, and grabs a pair of thick black gloves out of his bag.

"If you're sure?"

Midoriya turns to him and puts a gloved hand on his shoulder. "Toshi, I'm glad you care, but I'm fine, really." He grins. "Besides, if anything it'll draw more attention to me, which is exactly what I want."

Hitoshi hums. "Okay. But the gloves?"

"Support item!"

"Aren't those illegal unless you're support class?" Hitoshi really wouldn't put it past him to pull something like this, though.

"Kinda? You have to file to have a support item a couple weeks in advance and they have to approve it, otherwise they're illegal."

"So what are the gloves?"

Midoriya hold them out and splays his fingers. "They're my fireproof gloves! I use them a lot when I'm quirk training so I don't burn my hands. I also petitioned to have a flamethrower, but they turned that one down."

"I can't imagine why."

Midoriya laughs. "Yeah me either."

…

"Bakugou."

Katsuki looks up to see the half and half bastard standing above him. He sneers. "What the fuck do you want?"

Half and half shifts on his feet, rolling his head to the side in the laziest show of contempt Katsuki has ever seen. "Objectively, I'm stronger than you."

Anger flashes behind his eyes and he slams his hand on the table top. (his palm itches, but he doesn't let it ignite). "What the Fuck are you trying to say, bastard?!"

Half and half is unfazed. "So I am going to beat you in the festival today. At least try to make it interesting for me, though."

A ripple of excitement runs through the room (whispers of "the strongest kid in the class just threw down the gauntlet!") but Katsuki tunes them out. His scar pulls as he grins. "Fucker, it's going to be more than interesting for you. Just try not to cry too much when I win."

Half and half narrows his eyes. "We'll see."

"You'll see. That's for fucking sure."

"Bakugou, please watch your language!" there goes the class president. Ruining the mood again. Katsuki snarls.

"Yeah, Bakugou!" the bubbly one. What's her name? Ura-something. She yells. "You'll have to get through me if you want any chance of winning!"

"Uraraka, please—"

"No Iida, I want in on this challenge." She stands up on one of the tables and points at them. "You two. I'll see you in the finals."

Half and half nods slowly. "If you make it that far."

"Bitch just watch me."

"Uraraka please—" the class president grabs her by the wrist and pulls her down off the table, saying something about safety and decent language.

Katsuki grins. This just got so much more interesting. He was going to use the Sports festival as a chance to redeem himself—prove to himself that he deserved the top spot, but hey. If the rest of the class is willing to use the sports festival to determine the true number one? Well he won't complain about that.

…

"This is it! this is it! this is it this is happening r _ight now_!" Midoriya says, punching him in the arm repeatedly as they walk toward the entrance to the stadium. "Aren't you excited?"

"If I say yes will you stop assaulting me?"

"Oh sorry." Midoriya drops his hands to his sides, but continues to bounce as they walk. "I'm just so excited this is happening! We're gonna get out there and kick so much ass!"

"That's the plan, at least." Hitoshi can't deny that he is, in fact, excited about this. How could he not be? This is the day to make or break himself. Four weeks of training with Midoriya isn't ideal exactly, but he knows enough now that in combination with his quirk, he stands a fighting chance.

And fight he will.

…

Inko startles when the small white uh, rodent, walks up next to her seat. He looks rather dapper, she'll give him that. The waistcoat fits him perfectly.

"Miss Midoriya, is it?" he asks, holding out a paw to her.

"Ah, yes. Hello. I don't think we've had the pleasure," she stammers, taking his paw in her hand and shaking it.

He smiles. "Principle Nezu. Your son is a first-year here?"

"Yes." She nods again. Yuuei is a strange place.

"Thought so." His voice is so gentle. She's almost suspicious of it. He turns to Toshi sitting next to her. "Toshinori, are you going to stay for the first year games, or do you want to watch the third years?"

Toshi shifts beside her. He's positively drowning in that suit. If it's the only one he owns, then she'd buy him a new on in a heartbeat. Or at least take him to get one made, maybe not pay for it. Suits are expensive, and so are teenage boys. Hmm.

"I think I'll watch the first two first year events, and join the third years later? Surely Young Togata will make to the third round."

"Oh there's no doubt about that," Nezu says. "You two have fun here. I'll come find you later."

"Thank you," Inko says as the principle walks away. "He sure is interesting."

Toshi chuckles. "That's one way to put it."

…

"Move over, you're hogging the couch."

"Oh _I'm_ hogging the couch. You're thirteen centimeters taller than me, if anyone is hogging the couch, it's you."

"Fuck off, I'm just trying to watch our boys." Chie shoves her legs against Kuma's, trying to get them to move, before giving up and just slinging her legs over Kuma's lap.

"Yea and so am I."

"Kuma so help me I will kick you out of my house."

"You wouldn't."

Chie glares. "Maybe not, but I definitely won't share my popcorn."

Kuma gasps. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me bitch."

They glare at each other for a few seconds before Present Mic's voice booms over the TV. "Fuck fuck look it's starting," Chie says, slapping Kuma's arm with the back of her hand.

"Yeah I can see that."

"Shhhh he's talking!"

"— _highest score in the entrance exam, Bakugou Katsuki!"_ Mic says. The camera pans down to where the first year classes are gathered as a blond kid walks to the microphone.

"Holy shit that's what Kacchan looks like?" Kuma says, eyes wide.

Chie laughs. "Yeah, that's him."

"Ei has horrible taste."

"You're not wrong."

On the screen, Bakugou leans toward the microphone with a bored expression. _"I promise to be number one."_ He leans back, but now it looks like it's taking some effort to keep the bored expression. Kinda like he wants to laugh.

Understandably, the crowd erupts in some kind of outrage. (Kuma does too).

"What the fuck, what the Fuck? Who does he think he is?" they say, gesturing to the screen, while shoving a handful of popcorn into their face.

"An asshole."

Kuma pouts.

" _Strong words, there. Hopefully this will inspire the other students to do their best!"_ Mic says. _"And now to pro hero Midnight, to announce the first event!"_

Chie gasps and slaps Kuma on the arm again. "Ow, what the fuck?" they say, rubbing their arm.

"Shut up! She's my favorite!"

The camera cuts to where Midnight is standing, wearing her costume that she only uses for show/shock factor. Kuma makes a face. "I still don't understand your fascination with her. That costume is… hard to look at to say the least."

"Oh shut up." Chie gestures toward the screen. "She obviously doesn't fight in it. Can you imagine fighting without a sports bra? Actually can you imagine existing without a sports bra, yikes I would die. Anyway, no." she shakes her head. "She uses this costume to play with the male gaze or whatever. I can send you the whole interview where she talked about it."

Kuma huffs. "Now who's talking over it—she's just announced the first event."

"Oh shit really?!"

"Yeah. Obstacle course."

"Oh nice. Izuku will breeze through this, you just watch."

Kuma shifts, resting their arms on Chie's knees. "This is so exciting."

"Oh god I know. We have three friends competing. That's like. A lot."

"Eloquent."

"Thanks, I try."

…

"Neither of our quirks are great for maneuverability," Hitoshi muses as everyone gathers near the start line.

Midoriya shrugs. "So? Half of the Sports Festival is knowing when to use your quirk and when not to. I'm a gymnast and you can control people with your brain. I'm sure we'll both figure something out."

Hitoshi hums. "You're not wrong. I think I'll fall into the middle of the pack and avoid drawing attention to myself, you know?"

"Yeah, no that'll be good. Especially because you're using your quirk early. Aren't you?" Midoriya throws him a quizzical look.

"Yeah. What are you going to do?"

Midoriya taps a finger on his chin. "I don't know how smart it is, but I'm going for first."

Hitoshi chokes. "You _what?_ "

"Okay no hear me out. Yes, it'll make me a target for the other two events, but my quirk does jack shit for maneuverability so I can't use it anyway, therefore I still hold that as an advantage over the competition. And," he grins, his eyes glinting, "it'll be fucking hilarious if a gen ed kid beats everyone from the hero course without even using a quirk."

Hitoshi feels a smile pull on his face as well. "Oh no yeah that's perfect. Please. Take first place."

"Fantastic." Midoriya holds out his hand to shake. "See you in the next round, Toshi."

Hitoshi takes his hand and shakes it firmly. "See you in the next round, Zuku."

…

The air horn sounds to start the race and Eijirou is very quickly faced with the realization that the obstacle course was designed to weed people out _very quickly._

The crowd jams into the far too small (probably intentionally, the bastards) exit to the stadium. Eijirou feels a little like he's suffocating. Scratch that, a lot like he's suffocating.

He slips, and nearly smashes his nose into the shoulder in front of him. What the hell….?

He looks down.

That is… a lot of ice.

He grins as he feels the chaos erupt around him. Todoroki, you glorious bastard, this is exactly what he needs. He hardens his whole body and pushes off of the person behind him. It isn't exactly like snowboarding, and he does feel bad about all the people he's totally crashing into, but snowboarding definitely prepared him for this moment. See Mom? It is useful!

Momentum and the fact that he's the most solid thing in the tunnel carries him forward through the crowd and into the daylight. He's just in time to see Todoroki (just what he would expect from the strongest kid in the class) freeze the collection of—oh are those the zero pointers from the entrance exam? Lit!

Anyway.

Todoroki freezes them and runs under and yes! Look at that! Eijirou gins and sprints under the robots right after him. He hears the groaning a little too late and has just enough time to brace himself before they all fall down on top of him.

He's so fucking lucky that this is his quirk or he would be a little pile of mashed Eijirou at this moment. In any case, he punches his way through the robot and out into the fresh air.

Somebody else's head punches through exactly at the same time as him. hmm. Weird. Maybe he has a similar quirk? No time to dwell on it now, he's got a race to win.

He pulls himself out of the body of the robot and gauges the action.

Looks like Todoroki and Bakugou are in the lead again, as are Sero and Iida and… well most of Class 1-A, actually. Nice! Class A sweeping the stands would be awesome! And a huge middle finger to that Monoma kid from class B.

Grinning, Eijirou jumps to the ground, taking off in a sprint behind his classmates.

God, this is so much fun.

…

"Okay, I see Ei."

"Where?"

Chie points at the screen. "The redhead. Right there. that's got to be him, he just jumped out of the guts of that robot."

Kuma squints at the screen. "oh yeah yeah okay I see him now. Did Deku and Toshi make it out of the ice thing? Do we know?"

Chie groans. "Well, we would know but the camera is looking at these couple of heroics assholes that are holding the top spots so I guess not.'

Kuma pouts. "This is discrimination."

"In their defense, the camera people don't know that Toshi and Izuku are going to fucking own all of these heroics idiots, so I guess there's that."

"Won't that be a shocker."

Chie grins. "Oh yeah definitely. And knowing Izuku, there's no way this won't be an interesting race—THERE HE IS" she jumps, kicking Kuma in the leg. "oh sorry!"

Kuma rubs their leg. "It's fine it's fine, where is he?"

Chie points frantically at the screen, where a small boy with green hair is running away from the mess of robots, hauling a piece of scrap metal about as big as him under his arm.

"What the fuck is he doing?" Kuma asks, pulling a face.

"Fuck me if I know, but he's always got some sort of plan. Hopefully it'll work out for him."

"Hopefully." Kuma squints at the screen. "Do we know where Toshi is?"

"I have no idea what he even looks like."

"Fair."

…

The icyhot bastard has been in first the whole race, but Katsuki isn't about to let him keep the lead this easily.

He took quite a bit of ground over the tightrope gulches or whatever the fuck that was (when did they have time to dig that? It wasn't there yesterday), and Icyhot is clearly slowing down over the next obstacle. It doesn't look like much, what the fuck is he on about?

Katsuki glances at the sign as he passes it.

Oh, a minefield. This is perfect.

He grins and launches himself into the air with a few careful explosions.

Looks like Icyhot doesn't want to create a path for the other idiots here, and that is going to be his downfall. Katsuki is rapidly gaining on him, and with only a third of the minefield left, it looks like this will be an easy victory.

Something explodes behind him. Extras have arrived at the minefield, it seems.

No matter. He passes icyhot and spares him a glance just long enough to see the surprise in his eyes. Katsuki smirks. Take that, fucker.

In retrospect, he probably should have been watching the area right in front of him a little harder. He sees icyhot swing his arm and suddenly there is a wall of ice. Right there. In his face.

He yells and swerves, but slams his shoulder into it.

Oh. This means war.

Katsuki dives and kicks him, falling out of the air in the process and narrowly avoiding landing on a mine. Icyhot stumbles, and comes back for him with a vengeance.

Katsuki growls. They're still far enough ahead that he doesn't need to worry about everyone else, but this is still a delay that he really didn't want to have to deal with.

At least he can beat this half and half bastard to a pulp in the process.

It's the little things.

…

Inko feels the stadium shake with the force of the explosion before the camera on the big screen pans away from the two boys in the lead.

"Oh dear, what was that?"

Yagi shakes his head. "I'm not sure. The mines shouldn't have that much power—"

"WOW," Present Mic's voice booms over the speakers. "Quick get a replay of that!" the screen flickers and sees Izuku—her _son—_ take a running dive at a pile of mines and launch himself into the air with the force of the explosion and a piece of scrap metal. "Midoriya takes an explosive approach to the third obstacle!"

"Oh dear," Inko's knuckles are white around the armrest, until Yagi gently covers her hand with his and she eases her grip.

"Quick! Back to the lead group!" The camera switches to a wide angle of the third obstacle, still showing the two boys in lead (Katsuki looks as angry as ever. Pity, he was such a cute child) as well as Izuku soaring over the top of the minefield. "Looks like our lead is going to change here in just a moment!"

Izuku's makeshift sled projectile is rapidly approaching the ground, and there's no way this is going to be a smooth landing. "I can't watch!" she squeaks, her eyes still glued to the screen.

Somewhere in there, she grabbed Yagi's wrist with her other hand. She's not sure when it happened, and she's not sure she could let go, even if she wanted to.

On the screen, Izuku swings the sled and slams it on the ground between the two other boys, launching himself forward and them to the side in a puff of bright pink smoke.

"They'll be okay, right?"

Yagi nods. "The mines are mostly harmless, they'll be fine."

She doesn't loosen her grip on his arm. "If you say so."

Izuku rolls when he hits the ground on the other side of the field and breaks into a dead sprint. Katsuki and the other one are hot on his heels, but Izuku has always been a fast runner, and the end is close.

"Go Izuku! You can do it!" she yells, and then claps a hand over her mouth when some of the teachers turn to look at her. "Sorry." She whispers, flushing.

Yagi shifts so he's on the edge of his seat. Inko's hand (that was on Yagi's arm, her other one is still holding the armrest under his hand) is still clapped over her mouth, and she watches with wide eyes as Izuku sprints through the tunnel and back onto the field, the other two boys trailing behind him.

…

He's pretty sure he's never run that fast in his life, and his chest feels like it's on fire, but Izuku screams and throws his fist into the air.

…

" _And first place is Midoriya Izuku of General studies!?"_ Mic yells over the TV speakers. Chie yells and jumps into the air, spilling the bowl of popcorn that was on her lap all over the floor.

…

He gets the four kids carrying him to let him down before they reach the end of the tunnel. "Walk onto the field and pinch your hand. Forget my face and everything about this event when you do," He says, then strolls onto the field, claiming 27nd place, according to Present Mic, who actually screamed _"Shinsou Hitoshi of General Studies takes slot 27! That's two general studies students that have completed the obstacle course!"_

He hadn't seen anyone from general studies since Arai dusted herself over the tightrope gulch. It took her too long to put herself back together, so she probably won't finish in enough time to make it to the second round. So the second person (first, since technically he was the second) from General Studies has to be Midoriya. They couldn't hear announcements out on the field, so he has no idea what the current standings are.

He shoves his hands into his pockets and strolls through the crowd, looking for anyone he recognizes.

Looks like Midoriya did make it.

He's lying on his back on the grass, and Kirishima is sitting next to his head. They're both flushed and laughing about something or other.

Hitoshi walks over to them and kicks Midoriya in the ribs (not hard enough to hurt. Just enough to get his attention).

Midoriya looks over to him and grins. "Toshi! Hi! You did it! How'd it go?"

"Good. The tightrope bit was a nightmare, but the rest was fine." He shrugs. "How about you two, how did you do?"

Kirishima grins. "I got ninth! Which, considering I don't have a speed or strength quirk or anything, I'm pretty proud of!"

Hitoshi nods, and looks to Midoriya, quirking an eyebrow as his friend rapidly develops a deep blush. Kirishima is obviously waiting for him to speak, but he's practically vibrating out of his skin.

"I got first."

"No, really?" Hitoshi's eyes go wide.

"Yeah! It was so cool! I was on the minefield at the same time as them and I was yellin, it was so exciting!" Kirishima practically explodes. "Deku here made a huge pile of the mines and then just fucking launched himself over the whole thing and out in front of Todoroki and Bakugou it was the coolest thing I have ever seen!"

Midoriya is evidently capable of flushing a deeper shade of red, because he does. And then covers his face with his hands. "It wasn't that cool…"

"No! Dude! Shut up that was the coolest thing I have ever seen." Kirishima looks at him. "You'll have to find a replay somewhere, it was a religious experience."

Despite himself, Hitoshi chuckles. "I'll definitely have to."

"Sometimes they show replays between events," Midoriya mumbles from between his fingers. "On the big screens. They'll probably show highlights before they announce the second event."

Hitoshi glances up at the huge screens placed around the stadium. They're currently playing the ends of the race (place 41 just came across). "Fantastic. How many people are moving on to the second round?"

"They typically take between 40 and 50," Midoriya says. "It depends on what the second round is going to be."

"So I should be safe at 27."

"Yeah, definitely." Midoriya sits up. "Did the memory trick work?"

Hitoshi glances over to where the four people he'd used are wandering around, clearly very confused. "Yeah I think so. None of them have come over here yet, and I think they would have if they remembered my face."

Midoriya hums. "I still can't believe you can do that, it's really cool."

"Do what?" Kirishima asks.

"I can command people to forget things," Hitoshi says. "Well, it's not really like they're forgetting, more like I tell them to forcibly suppress the memory. If they tried hard enough they could probably remember it, but not very easily."

"That's really cool. Totally scary, but really cool."

Hitoshi lets himself smile (not genuinely. Kinda like Midoriya's mischief smile that never means good things. He's rubbing off on him far too much). "Do I scare you, Ei?" He still doesn't feel quite right calling Kirishima by his first name. He's never had a friend close enough for that and it still feels weird.

"Yeah—" Kirishima's eyes go blank as Shinsou grabs control of his volition. Midoriya sighs and rolls his head over to look at him.

"Did you have to?"

"He walked right into that one."

Midoriya looks over to where Kirishima is sitting rigid. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Hitoshi releases his hold on Kirishima and the redhead blinks as his volition comes back. He uses it to pout. "That wasn't fair!" he whines (there's no real heat behind it), crossing his arms.

Hitoshi laughs. "Yeah, but you walked right into it."

"He's got a point," Midoriya says, gesturing vaguely toward him, while muffling a laugh.

"You guys are so mean to me."

…

"So. Toshi has purple hair."

"It appears so." Kuma throws another piece of popcorn into their mouth.

…

They're all (the 42 of them that finished first, at least) gathering for the announcement of the second event. Ochako bounces over to where Iida is standing.

"So, what do you think it's going to be?"

"Uraraka, there's no point in guessing, Midnight is going to tell us right now."

Ochako pouts. "Aw, Iida, you're no fun."

"And besides," Iida adjusts his glasses, "They do something completely different each year, there's no way to predict what the event will be—"

"It's going to be a team event."

Ochako turns, startled. "Deku! I didn't see you walk over!"

"How the fuck do you know that," a boy with purple hair standing next to Deku says.

Deku shrugs. "There are patterns to how Yuuei picks events. They're pretty hard to see, but I couldn't sleep last night and figured out all of them."

"I'm—" Iida splutters a bit. "You should have been getting proper rest!"

"Is that why you said we shouldn't work together?" Kirishima asks. Ochako isn't sure when he got here either, but he's nice and she isn't complaining.

Deku hums. "Partly."

"A team event, huh…" Ochako rocks on her feet. "Deku, am I part of the we-can't-work-together ban?"

He gives her a quizzical look. "No…?"

Fantastic! "Then do you want to team up?"

"S-sure!"

"Uraraka, you don't even know what the event will be!"

Ochako shrugs. "Yeah, so? It makes sense to team up with friends. And besides," she grins. "You want to beat Bakugou, too, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Great! Because I want to destroy him."

Kirishima and Deku burst out laughing, and Iida gasps like he's been scandalized. "Uraraka! That's—that's hardly becoming!"

"No, that's fantastic actually," Deku says, "let's team up. Definitely."

"Great!"

She's cut off by Midnight, who grabs the microphone (it screeches). "Welcome back! Are you ready for the second event?!" Ochako screams with the crowd. "Fantastic! Let's just randomize this…" She spins a virtual wheel and all the screens in the stadium light up with event after event rolling across the screen quicker than she can read them. "I, of course, already know what you're going to be doing, but this is more fun," Midnight muses.

Ochako holds her breath as the pinging noise slows and the events stop rolling, coming to rest on—

"A Cavalry Battle!"

Midnight starts explaining it, but Ochako isn't really listening any more. She turns to Deku and grins. He grins back and whispers "I told you."

She nods, and tunes back in to what Midnight is saying just as she's announcing how point values are going to work.

"And each place up will get five more points, until the first place person, who will receive—" she throws her whip (?) into the air, "ONE MILLION POINTS."

"Kayama-Sensei!" Deku exclaims from beside her before he claps his hand over his mouth.

The kid with purple hair snickers. "It's almost like she has a personal vendetta against you."

"Yeah, no kidding," Deku hisses. "No one is going to want to be on my team now."

"I could always—"

"That would put too much of a target on your back." Deku shakes his head. "It would be better for you if you didn't."

Purple-hair hums. "I guess."

"You have Fifteen Minutes to make your teams, ready go!" Midnight yells, and chaos erupts.

"Good luck, Toshi," Deku says, punching purple-hair in the shoulder. "See you in the third event. You too, Ei."

Kirishima hold his fist out and the other two bump knuckles with him. "This is war, guys. I'll see you in the finals!" He turns and runs away.

Deku turns back to her. "Sorry. We should find some more people."

Ochako nods. "Yeah! Hey Iida—"

"I am going to have to decline," Iida says. "It's nothing against you, it's just..." he gives a strange look to Deku, "I got here on your power and I would like to prove to myself that it wasn't a fluke." He turns and walks away, leaving Ochako and Deku both at a loss for words.

"Well. There goes that plan." Deku says, and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I don't really know what anyone's quirks are, and I haven't used mine so I'm kind of a wild card. It doesn't help that I'm a general studies student and I've got this million points on my head—"

"You're muttering again."

"Oh. Am I?" Deku looks up at her. "Sorry."

Ochako doesn't fight the laugh bubbling in her throat. "No! It's fine. And I know people from Class A's quirks, if that helps."

"Right! you do!" Deku's eyes light up.

"Hey! Mister Number one!" Ochako turns around and comes face to face with the girl from the support class. What was her name? "Surely there will be lots of cameras pointed at you, since you came in first, right?"

Deku looks really flustered. "Y—yes?"

"So if I join your team that will give everyone lots of time to look at my super cool babies!" she squeals.

"Your what?" Ochako blurts.

"My babies!" She spins to look at Ochako and brandishes a number of gadgets. "I made them myself!"

"Oh!" she squeaks.

Deku's eyes light up. "That will be perfect, actually. We just need one more person." He taps his finger on his chin, pulling a bit on his bottom lip. "Someone who can provide a strong and nearly impenetrable defense… we're not going to be on the attack, just playing keep-away…"

Oh! Oh she knows someone that will work perfectly. "Deku!" She grabs his arm. "Hold on I'll get someone!" she doesn't give him time to reply before running across the field to where Tokoyami is standing. She hasn't talked to him a whole lot yet, but he seems nice, and his quirk is exactly what they need. Hopefully he doesn't have a team already.

"Tokoyami!" He turns to look at her, surprised. "Team up with me!"

"Just you?"

"No, I've got Deku—ah, Midoriya from General Studies and the support class girl with me too."

Tokoyami looks like if he had eyebrows to raise he would be raising them. "With your challenge this morning, I figured you would have chosen your allies differently for this battle."

Ochako crosses her arms. "I have the first place person on my team, I'm not sure what more you want from me."

Tokoyami sighs. "What's your plan, then?"

"Defense, as far as I can tell. Just play keep-away for the fifteen minutes." She grins. "That's why we want you! Your quirk is perfect for it."

Tokoyami hums (it's more of a trill, really). "Sure. I don't see why not."

"Great!"

…

Shouto's plan has changed a lot since this morning. He thought that Bakugou was his only real threat, and for most of the obstacle race nothing denied that.

And now. Now we're here. He got second in the first event, and he has no intention of getting anything less than first for the other two. Show his shitty old man that he doesn't need him—that part of the plan hasn't changed.

What has changed is this…this general studies student who literally blew past him in the first event. He has no idea who this guy is. Moreover, he didn't appear to use a quirk, or at least none that was noticeable on the highlight reel they played after the race ended.

In any case, taking the million points will secure his win and triumph over Bakugou (who is currently busy fighting a team of class B students). So, he'll do whatever it takes to destroy this Gen Ed team.

…

Izuku is having a great day.

Yes, he does mean that both seriously and sarcastically.

Barely six minutes into the cavalry battle they were attacked by Kacchan's team and the girl with pink skin melted one of Ochako's jet boots, which is seriously limiting their maneuverability. They were doing really good until then, though!

Thankfully Kacchan seems to be distracted by something and isn't coming for them anymore. He also lost track of Toshi pretty early on. Hopefully he's doing well.

But all that aside, they have a new problem on their hands.

Six minutes left and this other team has locked them into an ice ring on the edge of the field. Izuku grits his teeth. "Ochako give me a quirk run down."

"Iida's at the front—Engine. It makes him fast. Yaoyorozu on our left, hers is creation. She can make any non-living thing out of her body. Our right is Kaminari. He can discharge electricity but if he goes too far it makes him dumb." Kacchan explodes from somewhere else on the field and he misses what she says next. "His right makes ice and his left makes fire."

Izuku nods. "Tokoyami, how well can you guard against electricity?"

"Well enough, but not for long."

"So we keep to the side with Yaoyorozu. He's mostly been using ice, so that's a danger, but he can't risk hurting his own team." He leans down. "And if he uses fire, I can guard against that. If I say duck, you need to duck immediately and without question."

"Copy."

"Okay."

"Gotcha!"

"Fantastic." Izuku feels the grin pull on the corners of his mouth. God this is so much fun. "We've got five minutes. Let's do this."

Turns out, five minutes is a long time to play keep-away in an arena this small against a team that is hell-bent on their destruction. Izuku is exhausted, and he's the one riding. He can't imagine how the other three are doing. Yeah, Uraraka made them all weightless, but still.

"We still doing good?" he asks, in a moment where they can catch their breath.

"Fine," Uraraka says through obviously gritted teeth.

"We've got about a minute left. This is good. We're doing good." He pants. The other team is stalling. That can't mean good things. "We can hold out for another 45 seconds."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Tokoyami says, just as the lights in Iida's engines grow. The other team is on them, a hand on his forehead, a tug and the headband is gone. It's over before he knew it started.

He reels, throwing his head around and pulling his team with him. "Go!"

"Midoriya—"

"We have less than thirty seconds I don't care what plan we don't have, just go fucking _go!"_ he yells.

The fires in Iida's engines are out—if he wanted to use that he should have started pulling earlier. Shit. Kacchan isn't out of range, but this ice wall means that whatever he could get would have to break through that first and he doesn't have that kind of time. _Shit._ "Pull Right!"

"But Kaminari!"

"Just do it!" He braces himself, one hand outstretched. He needs to goad fire out of this guy.

It works, but just barely, and definitely not in the way he was expecting. The guy raises his arm (does he think Izuku is going to punch him?) and it ignites and wow! Isn't that cool! (not the _time_ ) he pulls the fire to his fingertips and the guys' eyes snap up and away (so does his arm) as the fire rockets away from him. Izuku lets go of his quirk and the small stream of fire shoots away from him as he uses the other boy's shock to reach for a headband and _Shit_ they're all backwards.

He has barely enough time to snatch one before they've zoomed past and Midnight calls time on the event.

He's got the headband clutched in his white-knuckled fist (or, it would be if he wasn't wearing thick black gloves, but that's beside the point) and he almost doesn't want to look at it.

He opens his fist and his heart drops into his stomach.

70.

That's… nowhere close enough to get them into the finals.

His team drops him to the ground and he wipes at his eyes, frantically trying to quell the tears that are rapidly developing. "I'm…I'm so sorry guys I grabbed the wrong one."

"No no no! Deku! Look!" Uraraka grabs him by the shoulders and points to Tokoyami and dark shadow, the latter of which is holding a headband with 615 printed on it.

"I grabbed it while you had him distracted," Tokoyami says.

Yeah there's no way the tears are going to stay back now. "Thank you!" he sobs.

…

"In first place, Team Todoroki! In second, Team Bakugou! In third, Team Shinsou? Where did he come from?"

"You should really pay more attention," Shouta sighs, shifting under all the bandages. Hopefully he'll be able to get them off soon.

"And in fourth place, Team Midoriya! That's two whole teams from the General Education department, this is unheard of! Anyhow, these sixteen students will continue on to the third and final event of the festival!" Hizashi strikes a pose before turning off the microphone and letting Kayama take over announcing from the field.

"You know no one can see you, right?"

Hizashi laughs. "It's habit more than anything. And hey! Lighten up and have a little fun, mummy man!"

If Shouta could glare at him, he would. One day he'll get these bandages off.

One day.

…

"We'll precede to the afternoon portion of the Festival after a one hour break! Go kids, eat some lunch! Keep up your strength, you'll need it!" Midnight says.

Izuku sighs. Lunch sounds really good right about now. And Mom said she'd be here, maybe he can go talk to her for a few minutes! That would be nice.

"Midoriya, was it?"

Izuku spins around to see the guy (he keeps missing when people say his name, this is a problem) from Iida's team with the fire and ice powers. "Yes!" he squeaks. "Yeah, uh, that's me."

The boy's eyes are dark, despite the light glinting off them (looks like the heterochromia extends to his eyes as well).

"Can I talk to you?"


	11. The One with the Sports Festival part 2

(A/N) sorry this is late! and i'm starting school again in about a week AND working full time so I don't think i can keep updates coming once a week anymore. i'm going to keep writing, but they're going to be slower/more sporadic. thanks for sticking with me! 3

* * *

"What is your affiliation with my father?"

You know, when a heroics student pulled him into a dark underpass to 'talk,' Izuku was expecting a lot of things. This was not one of them.

"What?"

The other boy crosses his arms over his chest and glares at him from where he leans against the concrete wall. His face is in shadow, which really only adds to the brooding pretty-boy aesthetic this guy has going for him. "Don't play dumb with me."

"I'm not—I have no idea who you are, let alone who your father is!" Izuku wracks his memory. This guy finished second, surely Mic announced his name then? What was it? He should have asked someone about this before he strolled into this situation knowing absolutely nothing.

The other boy scrutinizes his face. "Do you really not know?"

"I mean? I feel like I probably should know, but uh, yeah no. I don't."

The other boy sighs, and looks down at his hand (his left hand, specifically). Izuku fiddles with his gloves. This kid has a fire quirk too, maybe that's where he got his scar? It's pretty rare to find someone with a fire quirk that hurts them, but? Maybe? He did light his arm on fire though and it clearly isn't burnt so maybe not… unless it's a selective immunity? Maybe his face isn't immune. But he'd think that the ice side wouldn't be immune if anything, not the fire side? Hmm.

"Are you… what are you mumbling about?"

Izuku squeaks, and oh no. he was talking out loud? "Nothing!"

He tries to put on his best innocent face as the other boy glares at him again (maybe that's just how his face looks?). "You have no affiliation whatsoever with Endeavor?" he spits the name.

Izuku's eyes go wide. Ah. That's why this kid looked familiar. "You're Endeavor's son?"

"Unfortunately."

"Unfortunately?" How on earth is that 'unfortunately.'

The other boy (Todoroki, probably, all things considered) glances back down at his hand (the left one. Again) and sighs. "You made me break a promise to myself today. I figured my father would have hired you to do it."

"I did what?"

"I swore never to use my left side in battle, and I used it against you today." He sounds so sad (Izuku knows that voice far too well).

"Why?"

Todoroki looks up at him. "Do you know what quirk marriages are?"

.

He feels sick.

He saw Todoroki's cold mask (he knows it's a mask now) slip—there was hurt. There was so much hurt there. Hurt and betrayal and anger, so much anger.

He tries to swallow down the lump in his throat (it doesn't work).

"So I don't care if you aren't working with my father—" Todoroki shakes his head, "it doesn't matter. But I am going to beat you in the third event. Without using my left side." His eyes steel over again and the cold mask is back. He nods and turns to leave the underpass.

"Todoroki." Izuku sets his shoulders as the other turns back around and quirks an eyebrow. "I'm not going to back down so easily."

Todoroki nods slowly. "Good."

And then he walks away, leaving Izuku with a pit in his stomach and a dilemma on his hands.

He's going to go find Mom.

.

Turns out he has no idea where to find Mom. He leans against one of the walls in a back hallway of the stadium and pulls out his phone.

There are about a million notifications for the group chat (figures that Chie and Kuma would spam them), but he'll look at them later.

 **[Me]**

Where r u?

 **[Mom]**

Vip box on the west side

 **[Me]**

I have questions but also I'm coming over there

He knew that Mom was coming to watch him compete, but the VIP box? How? And moreover, why did she not tell him? The mystery deepens.

He shakes his head and starts jogging through the halls.

And almost crashes into Endeavor in the process.

He's decked out in full, flaming hero costume and he doesn't look very happy. Granted, his 'signature scowl' is pretty on-brand for him, but he looks especially displeased right now.

"Sorry!" Izuku squeaks, bowing.

"Watch where you're going, kid," Endeavor huffs, and continues on past him. Izuku keeps his eyes trained on the ground until the flame hero is well past him, rage boiling in his chest. He doesn't trust himself to speak to the man right now.

Once Endeavor is gone, he breaks into a full sprint, swerving around the couple of people in the hallways until he reaches the entrance to the VIP box where Mom should be.

"My Mom's in there," he says, nodding to the usher who sighs and lets him through.

He spots Toshi first and ah—that's probably why Mom is here. Makes sense, but if she's going to go and deny that this is also a date, they are going to have some Words.

"Mom!" he crashes into the seat next to her. "Hi."

She startles a bit, but grins at him. "Izuku! Sweetheart you did so good!" she pulls her hand out from under Yagi's (where they were both sitting on the arm rest. Try denying that it's a date now Mom, it won't work) and throws her arms around him, pulling him into the most awkward, uncomfortable hug to date.

Not that he really minds. He needs a hug right now, he doesn't care where it comes from. "Thanks Mom."

She lets go of him and holds him at arm's length (he didn't want that hug to end. Where is Chie when he needs her? She gives the best comfort hugs). "Izuku you are making me go greyer by the minute, but I am so proud of you." She's teary-eyed, and distantly he wonders how many times she's cried already.

"You did wonderfully, my boy," Yagi says. Izuku looks up to see that Yagi is smiling at him with such a soft expression. The burning in his throat comes back full force and his chin is quivering before he can stop it.

"Izuku, what's wrong?" Mom says. He shakes his head, tears spilling out over his cheeks. There's no way his voice would work right now. "Oh, honey," she says, pulling him back into a hug. It's still not the best hug in the world—there's an armrest between them and all, but it's better this time and he buries his face in her shoulder and sobs.

"I—oh dear, I'm sorry. Should I—?" Yagi sounds so out of place and Izuku feels bad about it. He's used to crying in front of people, but that doesn't mean he likes how uncomfortable it makes them.

"No," he feels Mom shake her head as her fingers thread through his hair. "It's not your fault, you're fine Toshi. He just needs a minute."

His tears were starting to quiet, they were. But then he feels Yagi's timid hand on his shoulder and—oh god. He chokes a sob and god, he's so lucky. He is so so lucky to have this. Todoroki doesn't. He doesn't have a family like this that he can turn to, and if he's telling strangers about his shitrag father then he probably doesn't have friends to turn to either and—

"Shh, honey it's okay. Is something wrong? Do you want to go somewhere else?" Mom's voice pulls him out of his train of thought.

"'m fine," he mumbles into her sweater, trying desperately to quiet the shaking in his chest.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Yes. God yes. He's not sure how much he can say without betraying Todoroki's confidence, but yes he wants to talk about it. He pulls back, wiping at his eyes. Mom's hands fall down his shoulders to grab his hands as he nods. "Do you—" his voice cracks and he takes a couple deep breaths.

"It's okay honey, don't push yourself."

He nods again as she rubs her thumbs over his knuckles. Yagi is looking over her shoulder, and gently he lays his hand over theirs. "Do you remember how I was right after Dad left?"

Mom's face falls, but she nods.

"I… I found someone. And they're… I want to help but I'm not sure I can…" he sobs again, a fresh round of tears falling from his eyes.

"Izuku," Mom reaches up and cups his cheek with her hand, wiping away some of the tears with her thumb. "You're too good for your own good."

"If I may," Yagi says, quietly, "It has always been a hero's duty to stick their nose into other people's business. Do what your heart tells you."

Izuku nods. "Thank you, I just… it hit a little close to home, you know?" He tries to smile. "Sorry, I… look Mom, I made it into the third round!"

She tries to scowl at him, but it isn't very effective, because she's obviously fighting a smile. "Honey, I am so proud of you, but really. You're going to give me a heart attack one of these days."

"Sorry." He wipes his eyes again. "Thanks, Mom. I… I needed that." He tries to look Yagi in the eye. "Thank you, too. I… I have something I need to do."

"Is it dangerous?"

He smiles. "Possibly."

Mom sighs. "I'm not going to be able to stop you, am I?"

"Probably not."

"Go then," she waves her hand in the air. "Go help this person. Invite them over for dinner when you're done. If this is going where I think it's going, you both are going to need comfort food when this gets over."

He can still feel the tears drying on his face, but he grins. "Thanks Mom! I'll come talk to you in a bit, have fun on your date!" he kisses her cheek and bounces up and away before she can protest.

"Is he always like that?" Yagi asks from behind him.

Mom laughs. "Yes."

…

They had an hour, but Izuku has already wasted half of it. Well, not wasted exactly, but he certainly spent nearly forty minutes not eating food. Which is what he desperately wants to do right now.

He collapses with his tray into the chair next to Toshi, who glances at him with a quirked brow.

Izuku groans, dropping his head onto the table next to his food.

"That bad, huh?"

"You have no idea."

"Well it took you far too long to get here. Anything that can keep you away from food for that long must be pretty bad."

Izuku glares at him, but lifts his head and starts to eat. "You don't have to come for me like this."

Toshi snorts. "I'm legally obligated." Izuku throws another playful glare at him, but goes back to eating. "Really though, what's up?"

"You know how I accidentally found out about Yagi?"

"Oh no."

"Well I've got dirt on Endeavor now. I don't think I can tell you," his face twists up, "probably shouldn't and all. Not my secret to tell."

"Fuck, Zuku. How does this keep happening?"

"I wish I knew."

Toshi sighs and drags a hand down his face. "Worse than Yagi?"

Izuku hums around the food in his mouth. "Maybe? It's different."

"Different how? Or is that asking too much?"

"Maybe? I don't know." Izuku shakes his head. "It's like… what I know about Yagi is horrible and it makes me sick to my stomach if I think about it for too long, right?"

Toshi nods. "Right."

"But I gained a ton of respect for him, because it's a really awful thing, right?"

"Right."

Izuku swallows, and pokes at his food. "This is horrible and it makes me sick to my stomach, _and_ I've lost all my respect for him."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Izuku sighs. "Like I said, it's not my secret to tell. There are people I'd be putting in danger by telling you, and I really don't want that."

"I get it, don't worry about it." Toshi shakes his head. "Good thing I never liked the guy anyway."

"You didn't like Endeavor?"

"God no." Toshi huffs. "He's too…" he pulls a face, "brash? Aloof? I don't know what the word is, but it pisses me off."

Izuku frowns. "But Eraserhead has a really similar aloof attitude, isn't he your favorite?"

"Ah no, see that's where you're wrong." Toshi tsks. "Eraserhead looks aloof, but you can tell that he actually cares about helping people. I mean, he's a teacher for fucks sake, you don't do that unless you have some investment in the lives of others. Endeavor just looks angry all the time. Or like, saving people is inconveniencing him."

Izuku hums. "Yeah I can see that. I just… Endeavor and I both have fire quirks and so I always looked up to him because he's so great, you know? But now—" his chin trembles and he tries desperately to choke it back. He's cried enough today, he doesn't need this. _Toshi_ doesn't need to see him cry. That's not, that wouldn't help anything. "It's… we're only capable of destroying things, you know? Destroying things and using people."

"Midoriya Izuku, what kind of _bullshit_ —"

His head snaps up to see Toshi turned toward him, his jaw set and his eyes alight. "Weren't you the one who told me that your quirk doesn't define who you are? You said that to me! So stop this," he gestures sharply toward him, "I have no idea what the fuck Endeavor did to you or anyone else, but he's just one fucking guy. One asshole. Your dad? Just one other asshole. They don't—they shouldn't—define you. You are your own fucking person, Izuku."

"Toshi—"

"No shut up, I'm not done." He pauses, shaking his head. "Look. I'm not—I don't know everything about what you went through. But fuck, Izuku, listen. You are not defined by the experiences of anybody else. It took me a hell of a long time to realize that and I'll be damned if I can't slap that realization into you as well."

Knowing himself, this probably isn't the first time he's cried in front of Toshi. It is the first time he's cried about something serious, and wow, the tears really are giving him a run for his money today.

"Fuck, I didn't mean to make you cry—"

"No, it's okay," Izuku wipes his eyes. "I needed to hear that."

Toshi breathes a sigh of relief. "Oh thank fucking goodness. I was worried I'd overstepped some line or other." Izuku chokes out a laugh through the tears (which he's trying to dispel, he is). "Do you… do you want a hug or something?"

"Toshi, you don't have to—"

"How about you stop talking for two seconds and let me try to be a decent friend." Izuku almost laughs again, but it devolves back into tears as Toshi pulls him by the shoulders into a hug. "I'm shit at comforting people, I hope you know," he mutters.

"I know."

They're both quiet except for the shaking of Izuku's shoulders and the soft sobs wracking his body.

"I mean it though. You are your own person. You don't use people. Or destroy things. Or whatever it was you were on about."

Izuku nods against Toshi's shoulder. "Thank you."

"Like I said. Legally obligated to call you out on your bullshit." He pats Izuku's back. "Now come on, they're announcing the final event, we don't want to miss it."

Izuku pulls out of the hug, wiping his eyes and pointedly ignoring the wet spot on Shinsou's shirt. "Yeah. Let's go. Let's do it. Let's kick their asses."

"That's the spirit."

.

All three of the people who were on Toshi's team in the cavalry battle drop out. Toshi tenses next to him, and Izuku pats his shoulder.

"With all the drop outs accounted for, the final bracket is…" Midnight pauses for dramatic effect. "This!"

The screens around the stadium light up with the bracket. Izuku frantically scans it for his name and … yeah he has no idea who 'Aoyama Yuga' but apparently he's fighting him first. And if he wins…

His mouth goes dry. If he wins, he could very well be fighting Todoroki in the second round.

"Who the fuck is Ashido Mina?" Toshi hisses from his side.

"I have no clue."

Toshi groans. "Fuck. Great. Love this."

"Literally all you have to do is get her to talk and you've won."

"True."

Izuku laughs, before squinting at the bracket again. "We're on opposite sides of the bracket too…"

"So if I see you, it'll be in the finals?"

"Looks like it."

Toshi sighs. "Guess I'll resign myself to second, then."

Izuku splutters. "What? No! You would totally win if we fought all-out."

"No, I wouldn't. You know my quirk, so it would probably come down to a hand-to-hand fight, and you're way better than me."

"Yes but," Izuku holds up a finger, "you know all my tells. You are so good at getting me to talk, I really don't stand a chance against you."

Toshi snorts. "That's because you always respond to the dumbest things."

"Exactly! See, I wouldn't stand a chance."

Toshi smirks. "Guess we'll just have to find out then. See you in the finals?"

Izuku grins. "See you in the finals."

Izuku glances back at the bracket, looking for anybody else he recognizes. Which isn't very many people, Ei is fighting some guy (Tetsutetsu that's quite a name) that he's never heard of, and oh. Oh well look at that. Uraraka is fighting Kacchan first.

He swallows. He's never seen Uraraka fight—hell he's never seen her use her quirk in any way other than playfully—so he has no idea how this fight is going to go down.

Well, not no idea. He knows how Kacchan fights. He knows very well how Kacchan fights. This isn't going to be pretty. He's not sure how much Uraraka knows, but the least he can do is check up on her.

"Hey remember when you were super ticked at me for making friends with the hero class kids?"

"Yeah?"

Izuku grins. "Well I'm about to use them to save your ass."

Toshi snorts as Izuku turns and runs away to find Uraraka. He said he was going to check on her, not that he wouldn't also juice her for everything she knows.

…

She's fighting Bakugou in the first round. It's not ideal… she was hoping for a little bit longer before her challenge to him came to fruition, but thus is life. Todoroki is on the other side of the bracket, though, so if she fights him it will be in the finals. Same with Deku. She could be fighting Kirishima in the second round, and she might see the purple-haired kid Deku always hangs out with in the third round…

She sighs. Her quirk really isn't that combat-oriented, so she'll have to be creative about this. Very creative.

"Uraraka!" she spins around and nearly head-butts Deku, who was evidently running toward her at full speed and is now struggling to come to a stop.

"Deku! Hi! What's up?"

"Nothing! I mean, lots of things actually, but nothing right now, I mean—" he shakes his head as she laughs. "There are things! How are you?"

"Fine!" she giggles. "I'm fine! I can't believe we both made it to the third round!"

Deku lights up. "Yeah! I know, I'm so excited! Kinda relieved I don't have to fight you until the finals, though."

She tilts her head to the side. "Why?"

"Because I have no idea how you use your quirk to fight, but I feel like you'd annihilate me."

Ochako can't fight the startled laugh that escapes her throat. "Guess we'll have to see then, right?"

"Right. Oh! I saw that you were fighting Kacchan in the first round how do uh, how do you feel about that?"

"Kacchan?"

"Bakugou. Sorry."

Ohhh oh yeah that makes more sense. She forces a smile and rubs the back of her neck. "I think I'll be fine. He's really strong though! I'm a little worried, I guess."

Deku hums, pulling on his bottom lip a bit. "Do you have a plan?"

"Kind of? I have a really bad and very dangerous idea that might work, if that counts."

Deku cracks a smile. "That definitely counts."

She smiles back. "Great! So yes, I have a plan. What about you? You're fighting Aoyama."

"And I have no idea who he is."

"Oh right! Hold on I'll give you a run down, that's only fair, right? I mean, all us hero kids know each other's quirks, it would be silly if you didn't either."

"Right! So who is Aoyama?"

"He's…" Ochako searches the crowd. Usually Aoyama is so easy to find… ah! "He's right there." she points, and Deku swings around to follow her line of sight. "The sparkly one. Blond?"

"Big belt? Yeah I think I see him."

"That's him! His quirk is 'naval laser.' He has a laser that can shoot out of his belly button. That's… about it. He can use it to move sometimes, but can't shoot it for very long because it gives him a stomach ache."

Deku nods. "What about Sero Hanta?"

Ochako spins around. She was sure she saw him just a second ago and— "There! He can shoot tape from his elbows."

"He can what now?"

She laughs. "Right? I thought it was weird at first too, but he's really good at using it, actually."

Deku hums again. "Kaminari Denki?"

…

The recreational games before the third event in the Sports Festival were always really fun to watch until suddenly he was part of the festival. Now Hitoshi just wants to hide in a closet somewhere and never come out. Anxiety is fun, kids.

Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, depends on how he looks at it, Midoriya is more than willing to hide in an unoccupied classroom with him and play cards to take his mind off of everything.

Or, well, as 'off-of-everything' as Midoriya, the king of strategy and talking out loud to himself, can manage.

"So apparently Ashido's quirk is acid, but she's also ridiculously talkative so I doubt that will be a problem for you. Your second round will be against either Yaoyorozu or Tokoyami, whoever wins that one. Yaoyorozu shouldn't be that hard to get talking, she's apparently not bubbly like Mina, but if you ask her about her quirk or tea she's really quick to respond."

Hitoshi nods along, shuffling through his deck and placing cards on the table.

"Tokoyami would be the tricky one there. Apparently he's pretty reclusive and doesn't talk a whole lot, especially when he's fighting. So I'm not sure how that one would go. He was on my cavalry team, and if you have to fight him hand for hand I'm not sure that you'll win. Hell, I'm not sure I'd win. Maybe if I had a lot of fire at my disposal, but just for brute strength his quirk is unbeatable. Uraraka and Ei both don't know any of his tells, so I'm not sure if there's any way to trick him into talking."

"Hmm."

Midoriya's eyes snap up to his. "What?"

"I was just acknowledging what you said. So I'll probably be out in the second round then?"

Midoriya sighs, shuffling a few cards around. "Yeah, maybe. I think I'll be out in the second round too, if it helps."

"Why?"

"Well, I don't know a whole lot about who he's fighting in the first round, but my second round is against the strongest kid in 1-A, according to both Uraraka and Ei."

"Oh. Which kid?"

"Todoroki. Fire and ice kid."

Hitoshi chokes on his spit. "Todoroki? As in Endeavor's son, Todoroki?"

"Yeah?" Midoriya squeaks.

"What the fuck? Does this have to do with…?"

"Yeah." Midoriya sighs. "I still don't think I can talk about it, but yeah. And I don't think I'll win. I mean, I want to! And he has a fire quirk, so I actually stand a chance, but that is a lot of training that I don't have that I'm going to be competing against and I'm a little nervous, you know?"

"No shit. Best of luck, though."

"Thanks. You too."

They're both quiet for a few seconds, with the only sounds being the buzz of the air conditioner and the soft flipping of cards.

"Wait holy shit your match is first." He said he was trying not to think about it, not that it was actually working.

Midoriya laughs. "Yeah. Kick off the Sports festival with the Ged Ed kid who hasn't used his quirk yet and the hero kid with a belly button laser, sounds great to me. Super exciting."

Hitoshi snorts. "Better than them starting with me. Kick off the festival with me telling the other person to turn around and walk out of the ring."

"What? No that would be hilarious. Power move of the century."

Hitoshi cracks a smile. "True. Too bad I'll be lost in the crowd."

"You're the what, fifth match?"

"Sixth."

"Ah. So I'll have plenty of time on both sides of my match to watch yours, then." Midoriya hums. "Nerts."

Hitoshi groans and starts counting his cards. "Looks like it. How much time do we have?"

Midoriya throws a glance at the clock. "Not a lot. I should probably head for the prep room. Are we going to sit with our class?"

"Probably, at least at the beginning. Maybe for the later rounds we can meet up with Ei and watch the finals with him."

"Sounds like a plan." Midoriya stretches. "See you in a bit then."

"Yeah." He stands up, "Good luck."

"Midoriya's eyes have hardened in the last few seconds. "Thanks."

…

He finds a seat next to Arai, who is more than happy to talk his ear off. Hitoshi isn't quite sure how he manages to attract really bright, talkative people, but it certainly seems to keep happening. Arai is pleasant enough company, and at least she doesn't expect him to hold up much of the conversation.

"Midoriya's up first, isn't he? Oh this is so exciting, I didn't think we would get two whole people in our class so far! Do you think this is some kind of record? Come to think of it, I don't even know what your quirk is. I know Midoriya has some kind of fire quirk, he's always playing with the candle flames in class, but you've been pretty secretive about your quirk! Will I find out today?"

"Hmm. Probably."

"Amazing! I'm really excited. It must be super strong!"

"You could say that."

"Did you know I almost made it into the second round? I was in forty-third. Forty-third! Can you believe? And then if I had teamed up with you or Midoriya I could have been in the final round too." She sighs. Plopping her chin into her hands with her elbows on her knees. "No use crying over what could have been, right? there's always next year."

"Right."

"Welcome back for the third event in the first-year games!" Mic's voice screeches over the speakers and Hitoshi winces. "Our sixteen finalists will be competing in a series of one-on-one battles! And now to Midnight, with the rules!"

The cameras flip to Kayama-sensei (still wearing that god-awful costume, why couldn't she just wear her normal one, this is such an eyesore) who grins. "Contestants will start 10 feet apart on this cement stage. Anything goes until one person is immobilized, out of bounds, or says "I give up!" of course, if things get out of hand, Cementoss and I will step in, but other than that, it's a free for all!" she waves her baton (whip… thing… it has tassels) in the air.

"Our first two competitors are Aoyama Yuga of heroics Class 1-A, and Midoriya Izuku of General Studies Class 1-C!" Mic yells. On the field, Midoriya and Aoyama step out of the shadows and walk toward the field, both grinning and waving at the cameras (Aoyama is blowing kisses and winking as well. Overkill). Hitoshi rolls his eyes, but leans forward in his seat.

In all honesty, he has no idea how this match is going to go.

…

"No no shut up one of my friends is on!" Eijirou says, grinning as he pushes Kaminari's face away from his.

"I didn't know you were friends with Aoyama, he doesn't seem your type." Mina says, draping herself across his shoulders.

"No, Aoyama's a great guy, but I've been friends with Midoriya since we were in middle school! I want to watch his fight!"

"What?" Mina whines. "But I've been friends with you since middle school and I haven't heard anything about this guy!"

Eijirou laughs. "Yes you have! Deku! He's one of my internet friends."

"Oh." He can tell that Mina is wrinkling her nose, even if he can't see her face. "That's him?"

"Yes that's him!"

"So who do you think is going to win this fight?" Kaminari actually looks passingly interested now.

"No clue. My money would be on Deku, but I've never actually seen him fight, so I can't say that for sure."

Bakugou scoffs from a couple seats away. "The nerd is going to win. Sparkles doesn't stand a chance."

"Woah, Bakugou! How do you know? Do you know him?' Mina asks, sitting up and spinning to look at Bakugou.

He looks her dead in the eye, and his expression sends a chill down Eijirou's spine. "How the fuck do you think I got this scar?"

Honestly, Eijirou should have put two and two together several weeks ago.

"Oh! Wow this should be interesting then," Kaminari quips, spinning around to look back at the ring where Aoyama and Deku are squaring off, waiting for the start.

"I'm just excited to actually watch him in action," Eijirou says.

He swears he hears Bakugou say something, but his words are swallowed by the whoosh of fire as four huge pillars on each corner of the stage are lit, and above them Present Mic screams _START!_

Deku's shoes squeal almost audibly as he pushes off the concrete and runs straight for Aoyama. Like. Straight for Aoyama. Right in the path of the infamous navel laser.

Clearly Aoyama realizes this because he smiles and pushes his hips forward, the laser erupting from his belt. The light rockets toward Deku and engulfs him.

Eijirou gasps and behind him Mina squeaks.

Something moves—Aoyama releases the laser just as Deku rolls out from under it (seeming unscathed, not that it would be easy to tell with all the scar tissue already marring his body) and is on his feet running toward Aoyama again.

Aoyama spins to face him. He grimaces, spitting another laser from his navel. Deku jumps before the laser can hit him. He spins through the air, bringing a foot down square against Aoyama's chest. His back hits the concrete with an audible smack that has Present Mic wincing over the microphone.

" _Holy Shit!"_ Kaminari screams, practically jumping to his feet.

Deku is perched over him, a knee on his chest, a foot restraining one of his arms while he holds the other above Aoyama's head with a hand.

Aoyama struggles underneath him, firing his naval laser (he misses). He tries to push his hips off the ground with his feet, but Deku is either stronger or heavier or both, because it doesn't work very well and he goes limp on the ground in defeat.

"Was… is that it?" Midnight says.

Deku looks like he says something in reply, but there's not a mic on him so Eijirou can't hear.

"Oh. Aoyama gives up! Midoriya of General Studies wins!" she throws her tassel in the air and Mic re-announces it over the microphone.

Eijirou cheers with what portion of the crowd is cheering.

" _What a strange first match!"_ Mic yells. " _It was super short, and Midoriya didn't even use a quirk! Hopefully the rest will be more exciting than this!"_

"Wait, he didn't use a quirk?" Mina asks, grabbing his shoulders and squinting down at the field where Deku is helping Aoyama to his feet.

Bakugou snorts. "Did it fucking look like he used a quirk to you?"

"I don't know! It was over super fast! He could have a strength enhancer quirk, you don't know that!" Mina huffs and crosses her arms.

"Or an agility quirk! Did you see how he jumped like that? It was crazy!" Kaminari yells.

"Nah, he does gymnastics, that's not his quirk." Eijirou shakes his head. "He didn't use it."

"So you're telling me that this guy," Mina gestures wildly toward the field, "is from General Studies and just took out one of our classmates in less than 10 seconds _without using his quirk?_ "

Eijirou can't help but laugh. "Well it sounds ridiculous when you say it like that!"

"I can't believe this," Kaminari mutters.

"Hey, Sero's up next, isn't he?" Eijirou says. "That's exciting!"

Mina groans. "Yeah, but he's up against Todoroki! He doesn't stand a chance!"

"Hey! Don't do him dirty like that, he's a smart guy," Eijirou says, laughing. "I'm sure he'll figure something out."

"Yeah I don't have that much faith." Kaminari kicks back in his seat.

"Oh come on guys, lighten up a little!" Kaminari rolls his eyes and Mina snorts. Eijirou still can't wipe the goofy grin off his face.

He glances at Bakugou and that does manage to make his smile falter. Bakugou's eyes are dark and his arms are crossed over his chest with his nails digging into his arms. His shoulders are tense and his knuckles are white.

Eijirou wants to say something—but is there anything he can say?

His stomach churns as Mic starts yelling about the second match and he turns back to face the field.

He knew there was something going on there. He knows there is. He has a couple more pieces to the puzzle now, and the picture he is starting to see is making him sick.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: IZUKU HOLY SHIT THAT WAS AWESOME**

 **ProfessionalYike: your form on that jump could have been better**

 **ProfessionalYike: but under the circumstances I'll give u a pass**

 **BestJeanass: dont listen to her that was the coolest thing ive seen in a while**

…

"Yo."

Midoriya crashes into the seat next to him, sighing. "Yo."

"You did good. Still keeping your quirk under wraps?" Hitoshi glances over to where Izuku is draped over the seat, dragging a hand down his face.

"Ugh yeah. My best shot at the second round is if he doesn't know my quirk, and I'm worried he already does so what's the point? I don't know. Also I didn't want to burn the kid to a crisp, you know?"

Hitoshi snorts. "I know."

"Midoriya that was awesome!" Arai yells from Hitoshi's other side, waving her arms frantically. "I yelled a lot, you did so good!"

Midoriya smiles. "Thanks!"

" _Next up, Sero Hanta from the Hero Course and Todoroki Shouto, also from the Hero Course!_ " Mic yells over the speakers. Midoriya sits up to look at the two boys standing in the arena, pulling out a notebook and pencil in the process.

"What's that?"

"Quirk analysis. I'm going to have to fight one of them, so I figured the least I can do is take notes." He shrugs. "Also this is a great opportunity to look at their quirks, the more notes I have the better."

"You're a nerd." Hitoshi feels a smile pulling at his mouth.

"I never said anything to dispute that."

" _START!"_ the speakers squeal as Present Mic calls the start of the fight. Hitoshi leans back in his seat as Midoriya leans forward.

Elbow boy (probably Sero, all things accounted for) moves first, wrapping the other in tape(?) and moving to swing him out of bounds. Before he can, Todoroki shifts his foot.

In an instant, the arena is frozen. The stands are frozen. A massive glacier takes up more than half of the available space and even extends past the roof.

Hitoshi glances to the side where Midoriya sits with his mouth gaping.

"That sure is… something," he says.

"No shit," Hitoshi says, shivering. What the hell kind of quirk is this powerful?

" _Todoroki wins!"_ Mic yells over the speakers.

"No shit!" Hitoshi hisses. Midoriya's eyes are still trained on the field where Todoroki walks forward to the base of the glacier.

His shoulders are sagging as he places his hand on it and it begins to melt.

"Midoriya, you have to fight him next, right?" Arai whispers, leaning over Hitoshi.

Midoriya nods wordlessly on his other side, his eyes still glued to the field and the end of his pencil tapping frantically against his notebook.

"Wow! Good luck, I don't have any idea how to beat that guy." Arai spins in her seat to lean back over the railing.

"I… think I do." Midoriya's voice is quiet, just loud enough for Hitoshi to hear.

He turns to see Midoriya is still staring wide-eyed at the field. "How dangerous?"

"Depends."

"How reckless?"

"Very."

…

Toshinori watches as the glacier disappears from the stands and Young Sero is freed from his icy prison. On the field Midnight congratulates the two boys outside of the reach of her microphone and herds them off the stage. He doesn't miss the downward slope of Young Todoroki's shoulders.

"What did he mean when he said he found someone that was like him? Young Izuku, I mean." He asks.

Inko doesn't look at him when she replies. "He was very ashamed of his quirk for a long time. He thought it was too similar to his father's."


	12. The one with the Sports Festival part 3

Izuku has only known Hatsume Mei for a few hours now and of course. Of course that's how she plays her one-on-one match. He shouldn't have expected anything else.

In any case, the entire 10-minute sales pitch has him doubled over in uncontrollable giggles, much to the confusion (and amusement) of Shinsou sitting next to him.

"I almost feel bad for this Iida kid," he muses when the match ends and the very disgruntled heroics student is herded off the stage.

Izuku wipes the tears from his eyes and tries desperately to catch his breath. "Are you kidding? He just got a free pass into the next round. And that was _hilarious._ "

"Don't heroics kids typically have complexes about proving themselves or whatever?"

Izuku shrugs. "Eh? Maybe. I wouldn't know."

Shinsou snorts. "Guess not." He braces his hands on his knees and moves to stand up. "Guess I'd better go, mine is the match after this and I need to prepare or whatever."

"Do you want me to walk with you?"

Shinsou sighs. "No, if that's okay." He shoves his hands into his pockets. "Just take good notes. Let me know what I'm up against in round two."

Izuku nods. "That's fine! Good luck Toshi, you'll do great."

Shinsou cracks a smile. "Thanks."

…

The fight between Tokoyami and Yaoyorozu is a massacre. The poor girl didn't stand a chance, which is a pity, because from what Izuku saw, her quirk is really cool! Like, really really cool! If he has time, Izuku wants find her and ask her about it because he's never seen a quirk like that and he has so many questions.

Present Mic grumbles something about "when will we have an interesting match" over the speakers while Eraserhead chides him. It makes Izuku smile. This next match should be over quickly as well, and with less fanfare than every match before it has had. Or, that's what he's expecting at least.

" _Next up is Ashido Mina from the Hero Course and Shinsou Hitoshi from General studies!"_

As they walk into the arena, Ashido spins, striking a few poses for the cameras and crowd. Shinsou looks awfully bored and it makes Izuku snort.

"I finally get to see what Shinsou's quirk is!" Arai is practically vibrating in her seat, the ends of her hair disintegrating and reforming in her excitement. "He wouldn't tell me!"

Izuku hums, resting his chin in his hand and bracing his elbows on his knees.

" _Start!"_

Ashido takes a running step forward, pulling her hand back like she's about to throw something.

She stops in her tracks, almost stumbling as her hands fall to her sides. Shinsou leans back, crossing his arms over his chest.

" _What's happening down there?"_ Present Mic sounds equal parts confused and distressed as Mina turns around and starts walking toward the edge of the arena. Shinsou follows her until he reaches the very center, where he sits down cross-legged and leans back on his arms (the little shit).

When Mina reaches the edge of the arena, she does some kind of little spin and steps out, before slapping herself (and coming back to). She turns around and starts to run back toward the center of the arena where Shinsou is sitting.

"Ashido, you were out of bounds!" Kayama-sensei calls, pointing her baton (whip thing) at her. Mina stops in her tracks, her shoulders slumping. "Shinsou Hitoshi wins!"

" _What?! Shinsou Hitoshi, of General Studies wins! That's two wins for the General Studies department, what is happening?"_

" _What's happening is there is a lot of unrecognized talent in the General Studies course."_ Eraserhead says.

Izuku is too far away to tell, but he thinks he can see Shinsou beaming as he walks out of the arena.

"What did you say to her?"

"I asked her if she'd rather have a dance-off. She said she'd beat me there too."

Izuku snorts. "Clearly that worked well for her."

"Clearly." Shinsou sighs. "Looks like Ei and Tetsutetsu are pretty evenly matched."

"You don't say."

…

 **BestJeanass: mmkay Mindfuck I knew ur quirk is brainwashing or w/e but ok what**

 **BestJeanass: I just watched ur match and I have no idea what just happened**

 **BestJeanass: Mindfuck I have questions**

 **Mindfuck: I told her to turn around and walk out of the ring and do a little spin while she was at it**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm terrified but also that's so cool what in fuck**

 **Small_Might: ! I know right its what ive been tryna tell u guys**

 **BestJeanass: eyyy deku my bro where is ei**

 **Small_Might: nurse I'm thinking? He knocked himself out pretty good**

 **ProfessionalYike: you gonna be okay with Bakugou and all**

 **Small_Might: think so?**

 **Mindfuck: well he's up next so**

 **ProfessionalYike: I hope he gets his ass whooped**

 **Small_Might: hell. Same.**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I LIVE**

 **BestJeanass: I'm so proud**

 **CrimmsonRiott: thank u**

 **CrimmsonRiott: thery're gonna have us arm wrestle it out after Bakugou and uraraka's match**

 **ProfessionalYike: that's hilarious**

 **ProfessionalYike: Ei you'll do great**

 **CrimmsonRiott: thx chie**

 **BestJeanass: ARE YOU GUYS EVEN WATCHCING THIS KACCHAN IS GETTING HIS ASS WHOOPED**

Shinsou looks up from his phone. "Wait shit really? It doesn't—"

Izuku can't take his eyes off the match, and gestures wordlessly up. Shinsou follows the path of his hand and inhales sharply.

"Oh shit."

"Oh shit," Izuku echoes. Uraraka's plan is reckless, dangerous, and borderline suicidal. But damn. It might just work.

…

Katsuki flinches. It's just a moment of hesitation but he flinches and the shower of rubble almost hits him.

It doesn't of course.

They cart Uraraka off what's left of the arena on a stretcher. He stands there, rubbing his wrist and cursing himself.

He shouldn't have hesitated. He shouldn't have flinched. He's stronger than that.

He glances up into the stands as he walks off. He swears he can see a head of thick green curls and the knot in his stomach grows heavier.

…

 **ProfessionalYike: FUCK THAT WAS SO CLOSE**

 **ProfessionalYike: I THOUGHT SHE HAD HIM THERE FOR A SECOND**

 **BestJeanass: UGH I KNOW**

 **Mindfuck: but alas**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku's match is next ya?**

 **Mindfuck: Ei's rematch real quick and then yea**

 **BestJeanass: ahhhhh yiss I'm excited. Hopefully this will be uh. Less disappointing.**

Hitoshi hums, tapping the side of his phone and glancing at Midoriya's empty seat. He's not sure exactly what's going on, but something tells him that 'less disappointing' isn't the phrase to use.

Frankly, he's not entirely sure what is.

…

"Hey." Maybe this was a bad idea.

Uraraka whips around to face him, her eyes glistening. "Deku! Hi! Do you—oh goodness I'm in the ready room aren't I? Do you need me to leave?" she braces her hands against the table like she's going to stand up.

"No no no! you're fine. I just…" Izuku rubs the back of his neck and leans against the doorframe, "wanted to check up on you I guess? You fought really well!"

Uraraka beams. "You think so? It's a pity I lost, I was hoping to do a little better, you know?"

That pulls a surprised chuckle out of him. "Yeah, I get it. Kacchan is…" he shakes his head. "Your plan was really good. You had most everyone fooled! Not sure if you heard but Mic was berating you pretty hard, but only because even he didn't see what you were doing. It was—I'm really impressed." He cracks a smile. He was coming here to comfort her, he was. Unfortunately he's not super great at that. "I don't think I could beat you, if that means anything."

"Thanks Deku…" her hands tighten around her phone, "I… that means a lot."

He doesn't know what to do. If he had more time he would sit here and try to comfort her—but his match is next, and isn't fate tricky like that? The time he needs to be there for a friend and he can't. Maybe tomorrow they can go get ice cream. That would be nice.

"I've uh… I've got to go fight Todoroki." Eloquent.

"Right." Uraraka nods sharply. "Good luck!"

"Thanks."

As he closes the door behind him he hears her voice break. " _Dad, Mom, I lost. I'm so sorry-!"_

…

 **ProfessionalYike: All my boys are in the second round!**

 **BestJeanass: congrats on ur biceps ei**

 **CrimmsonRiott: thx Kuma 3**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I try so hard**

In retrospect, he probably shouldn't have been checking his phone while he was walking. Too late now. He's already crashed into Endeavor's back and is currently apologizing profusely while trying not to let any of the anger curling in his gut show.

"I am so sorry sir, I should have been watching where I was going, I didn't mean too—"

"You're the general studies boy, aren't you?"

Izuku freezes before looking up from his feet into Endeavor's scowling face. "Yes?"

Endeavor makes some kind of huffing sound. "You're fighting my Shouto in the next round then. Pity. I was hoping he would have to fight someone to actually make him prove himself." He uncrosses his arms and storms past Izuku, knocking into his shoulder in the process. "At least _try_ to make the fight interesting."

"He's not you."

"What?"

Izuku is still standing where Endeavor left him, fists clenched at his sides and staring hard at the ground. He doesn't think he has the self-control to turn around. There's too much fire on Endeavor's costume. It wouldn't end well for anyone. "He's not you. You can't prove yourself through him, so stop trying."

Endeavor doesn't say anything, or Izuku doesn't give him time to say anything, because he takes off in a dead sprint away from the Flame Hero, tears burning in his eyes and his throat.

God, it's just like Dad all over again.

.

What he really wants to do is go find Mom and hug her for the next 10 years and maybe make cookies, but his fight with Todoroki (Shouto apparently, it's a nice name) starts in less than five minutes so that plan won't work.

It's probably a terrible idea to fight like this. He's frantically wiping tears away with the heels of his hands, the marred skin scraping across his cheeks. His chest is still shaking.

He has to fight this kid right now.

Yes, he has a plan. He has a plan to beat Todoroki. He's not sure it will work, and it will certainly require a lot more luck than he's ever had in his life, but it's something.

The problem is, while he knows that beating Todoroki in this round would be a huge "fuck you" to Endeavor, he's not sure it would be a good thing for Todoroki himself.

…

" _Welcome back, everyone! This is the second round of the first year-tournament! With only eight students left, things are really starting to heat up!"_ Present Mic's voice screeches over the speakers and Inko winces. She wishes he didn't have to be so loud, there are speakers here for a reason—he doesn't need to speak like they aren't there.

"Mr. Yagi?"

Inko startless before realizing that it's just the principle—Nezu—appearing at her side.

"Yes?"

"We're halfway through the third round, do you want to come watch the third-years?"

"Ah…" Yagi glances back to the field.

"There will, of course, be time to observe Togata in classes, but this is a unique event where he and his fellow students are competing all-out—"

"Sir, I'm sorry," she hates interrupting people, but if Yagi leaves now she's not sure what she would do. "My son is competing next, is there time for him to go see Togata after this match?"

Nezu smiles. "Of course! I'll meet you on the other side in fifteen minutes."

Yagi nods his complacence and his hand tightens around Inko's as Nezu walks away.

"Are you worried about this match?" he says, not quite meeting her eye.

"I'm a mother, I'm always worried. Are you? I don't know," she glances up at the bracket, "Todoroki, but you're one of his teachers, aren't you? That glacier, was it… normal?"

Yagi is quiet for a moment. "Todoroki isn't incredibly outspoken, I can't say that I know him very well."

"Are you worried, though?" the pit of anxiety in her stomach grows with every second he doesn't speak.

"Perhaps. I certainly don't know what's going to happen here."

Inko sighs, though her stomach churns. "I'm his mother—I've seen him fight—and I don't know either. That worries me."

…

" _The first match of this round—he surprised us all with a first place win in the Obstacle course, do we even know his quirk? It's Midoriya Izuku from General studies! And in the opposite corner, considered by most to be the strongest in class 1-A, and with a win in the Cavalry battle to back it up, it's Todoroki Shouto from the Hero Course!"_

"Aww I didn't even think about it before now, but doesn't this feel like it should be the final match or something?" Mina whines, stretching.

"Oh man, you're right," Sero says. "The winners from the other two rounds going up against each other so soon, it does feel a little weird, doesn't it?"

"Well, Midoriya's a general studies kid, isn't he? They're probably setting up for Todoroki and Bakugou to fight. You know, two strongest people, stick them on opposite ends of the bracket so they'll meet in the finals," Kaminari says.

Eijirou hums. "I still think this match is going to be pretty intense."

Kaminari snorts. "Unless Todoroki steamrolls him like he did for Sero."

"Hey!"

"I'm just calling it like it is."

"Kiri, you actually know his quirk, who do you think is going to win?" Mina says.

"I…" come to think of it. "I don't really know. I've never actually seen Deku fight before today."

Mina spins to face where Bakugou had retaken his seat after his match with Uraraka. "Bakugou! You know him, who do you think?"

Bakugou scowls. "Why the fuck are you asking me?"

"Because you guessed the last one!" Kaminari says, turning around in his seat. "Come on, what do you think?"

Bakugou scowls again at Kaminari, before his gaze shifts onto the field where Deku and Todoroki are lining up on the arena. His expression changes to something Eijirou can't read. "If Deku uses his quirk, Todoroki doesn't stand a chance."

"Oh!" Mina drapes herself across Eijirou's shoulders to get a better view of the field. "I'm excited now!"

Eijirou can't take his eyes off of Bakugou. There's something—there's something he's forgetting. He knows he has the pieces, he just can't quite fit them all together.

" _Ready?"_

He turns back to the field.

" _Start!"_

…

Across from him, Todoroki's face is as blank and impassive as Izuku has ever seen it. Present Mic is yelling their introductions, and they're longer this time. Probably because they're top 8.

At least if he loses here he can say he made it farther than three quarters of the heroics kids.

At the four corners of the arena, the huge bonfires whoosh to life. He glances at them behind Todoroki's head, trying to gauge their size. This is his one hope.

" _Ready?"_

Izuku shifts into position, his legs poised for the jump. Across from him, Todoroki rolls his head, his left hand hooked loosely in the pocket of his pants.

…

Shouto can't take his eyes off the scars that twist and dance across Midoriya's arms. He has seen scars like that. He knows where they come from.

…

He only has seconds.

" _Start!"_

Izuku doesn't see Shouto's foot move.

He pushes off the ground, feet swinging high, his arms tucked into his chest, head low, and _pulls_. He can hear the cracking of the ice—the glacier—forming. The cold air hits him.

He pulls harder, teeth gritted.

He lands (too hard, bloodies his knee) and releases his hold, ducking his head as one of the two bonfires lit behind him whizzes through the air above him and shatters the glacier.

Seconds, he only has seconds.

He jerks himself to his feet and starts sprinting toward Todoroki. The other boy is staring with wide eyes, mouth slightly parted, as Izuku begins clearing the distance between them. (Present Mic is screaming something, but Izuku can't make out the words over the blood pounding in his ears).

Todoroki's eyes harden suddenly, his mouth sets in a thin line and he sweeps his hand. Shards of ice sweep upward from the ground and grow toward him.

Izuku launches himself off the ground, pulling the second bonfire behind him and directing it toward the wall of ice (now taller than him and rapidly growing larger). He lands, rolling as the ball of fire smashes through the ice wall, and is back on his feet again.

He's within arm's length of Todoroki now. Everything comes down to him being able to actually use what All Might and Jian'guo-sensei have taught him.

Todoroki said he wouldn't use his left side.

He looks like he's going to pull a punch—his right hand pulls back but Izuku doesn't really need to worry about that. He jumps, head swinging low and legs swinging high. His left knee hits Todoroki square in the chest and the other boy stumbles backward as Izuku hooks his right leg over Todoroki's left shoulder, grabs him behind the right shoulder (dangerous—). He pulls downward, and Todoroki falls forward. Izuku grabs the behind Todoroki's knee as he falls and that ends it.

They both hit the ground, Todoroki on his back and Izuku more or less on top of him.

Izuku is on his feet and in a fighting stance again, with the sound of the crown screaming ringing in his ears. Todoroki pushes himself to his feet, but Izuku is on him again, throwing a kick at the soft spot on his (left) side, just under his ribcage.

Todoroki stumbles. Ice shoots out from under his right foot towards Izuku. It's not the glacier—no, they're too close for that.

Izuku jumps before it can reach him, it's a risky move and he didn't have the momentum he needed. Regardless, there's no turning back now. His form is atrocious, but his right foot swings out, bringing his shin in contact with Todoroki's jaw.

His head snaps to the side and they both go down. Izuku overestimated the kick, and now his foot is caught on the other side of Todoroki's head. (He really doesn't want to break this kid's neck. That wouldn't be good.)

Unfortunately, inertia is a thing, and he keeps moving, pulling Todoroki down (by the neck-he's going to apologize for that later). They both hit the ground, Todoroki's face smashing into the concrete while Izuku immediately loses his balance on the sheen of ice.

Todoroki takes the opportunity to swipe Izuku's feet out from under him-his back hits the ground with a dull thud that's definitely going to bruise later. Todoroki's hand sweeps out and Izuku rolls out of the way of a wall of ice that sweeps across between them.

He pushes himself to his feet and shit he's too far away this isn't good.

He's also facing the two torches he used and they aren't lit. Two more shots then. It's fine it's fine he's got this.

Todoroki shifts and the glacier begins forming at his foot again and sweeping toward him (it comes slower this time)

Izuku pulls the third torch. It's not graceful or hell, even efficient, but he yanks it toward his chest. He lets it go and ducks just before it reaches him.

The ice shatters and melts over his head and in the mess of steam he charges forward. He only has one more shot-he can't afford to get that far away from Todoroki again.

Todoroki is rubbing gingerly at his neck when Izuku is close enough (and the steam clears enough) that he can see him. There's blood smeared under his nose and across his mouth. God-he does feel bad. He's shaking too. His right side is covered in a thin layer of frost and he's shaking. Interesting.

Back into the fray.

He throws another kick at Todoroki's left side, and takes the moment where Todoroki tries to regain his balance to get close to him.

Close enough to throw him. He grabs Todoroki-by the collar and by the side, and shifts his feet to throw him down again.

There's a fist in his side, a sharp pain, and he stumbles backwards. He's panting-they both are.

Todoroki's right fist is encased in ice and ah, that explains a lot.

He grits his teeth. Time to change strategies.

He moves in again, but is careful to stay out of the reach of Todoroki's right side.

A jab to left here, a kick there, then out of the way before Todoroki can reach him.

They're dancing circles around each other and god, Izuku is exhausted. He hasn't over used his quirk yet, but by god he's over used his body.

"Hey!" his voice is raspy and he's panting, but fuck this. "When are you going to fight me?!" he throws another kick at Todoroki's left side to punctuate the words.

Todoroki stumbles to the side and snarls at him. "I am fighting you! What more do you want?" he throws a punch. Izuku catches it in a gloved hand (thank heavens for these gloves), and holds his fist while he moves to knee him in the stomach.

"For you to actually try!" Izuku pushes Todoroki away and resumes his stance. "I could have ended this three separate times, without even using my quirk!"

"If you could have, why didn't you?" Todoroki spits, and his saliva is red. Oops. He sweeps his hand and a trail of ice shoots toward him. It's slow and narrow, and Izuku rolls out of the way before it reaches him, jumping up to land another punch to Todoroki's left side.

"Because you're shaking!" another punch, which Todoroki blocks—a kick then. "Look at you! Everyone that's here today is trying their hardest to win today—we're all giving it our all! And you have the audacity to half-ass it?!" He blocks another punch from Todoroki. His leg swings up (trying to take moves from him, is he now?) Izuku catches it and spins it, swiping his foot out to knock Todoroki off his feet.

Todoroki's back hits the ground with a dull thud. He growls. "You have no idea—"

"My Father left us for a whore!" Izuku screams. "And we were _glad_ when he did! The world doesn't revolve around you!" Todoroki is pushing himself back to his feet, and Izuku lets him do it. "Don't you fucking dare look at me and say I don't understand!" his voice cracks. This is the Wrong Time to cry! Crying means breathing isn't good and if his breathing is bad he can't fight so he can't cry! Not here! Not now! fuck shit—

Todoroki growls again and lunges at him, grasping for him with a stiff, frostbitten hand.

You're not the only one!" Izuku yells, grabbing him by the wrist, by the shoulder, and pushes him away. "Do you have any idea what it's like to see your mother flinch every time you use your quirk? To see her look at you and only see him-!" his voice cracks. This isn't exactly what he was planning on saying today, but plans change.

Todoroki swings at him, and this time it makes contact. Izuku's head snaps to the side (his jaw is definitely going to be bruised later). "That's exactly why! I have to prove-"

"You don't have to prove shit!" his vision is still swimming, but he manages to elbow Todoroki in the ribs. His form has gone to shit, that's for sure. Jian'guo-sensei would be disappointed. "You're not him!"

"I know I'm not! That's why I need to do this my way," Todoroki yells. A sheet of ice erupts from the ground near his foot and Izuku jumps out of the way. There's too much space between them now for comfort, he needs to get closer.

"You're not your father any more than I am All Might! It's not his power-it's not his fucking quirk!" He runs toward Todoroki, but another wall of ice crops up and he rolls to avoid it. He can't get close, but it doesn't look like Todoroki can make another glacier. He just has to keep stalling for a little bit longer.

Not that he could break another glacier if Todoroki made one. The other boy stands between him and the last remaining torch-there's no guarantee it would make it to him before Todoroki's ice did. Shit.

"It's your power, Todoroki! It's your quirk, not his! Use it, and fucking fight me already!" This is such a last ditch effort.

For a few seconds, the earth is still.

(He's sure Present Mic and the crowd are all screaming around him, but he can't hear them)

(He can't hear anything)

For a few seconds, his breath heavy in his throat and his chest heaving with the effort, he and Todoroki stare at each other.

Then, Todoroki grins, and he ignites.

Izuku closes his eyes against the light, and when he opens them, Todoroki is standing across from him, a maniac look in his eye and his entire left side encased in flames.

Izuku returns the grin.

Oh hell yes.

Todoroki pulls his left hand back, the light around it concentrating into a blinding white.

Seconds, he only has seconds.

Izuku pulls himself down, feet poised, one hand on the ground. He's practiced this.

On either side of the arena, he sees Midnight and Cementoss moving toward them. Probably to stop the fight. It's fine though! He only needs a second.

Just one.

Todoroki is swallowed in the light, and then the fire is rocketing toward him.

Izuku pulls it closer, egging it toward his feet, his hands, his chest.

He jumps (he only has a second) and the fire engulfs him.

It's hot-he can feel his hair singing as he pulls the fire toward his feet, pushing it around his center and through the air. He lets it go before he lands and it whirls through the air away from him. The last of the blast still swirls around him.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't mesmerized by the colors, the light.

Something cracks in front of him, and he ducks as the air is littered with rubble and smoke.

.

"Listeners! What have we just witnessed?"

That's Present Mic. His ears are still ringing, but Izuku can make out the words.

"The smoke is clearing on the battlefield- and what a battle it was!"

Izuku pushes himself to his feet. His gym uniform is ripped in several places and he's bleeding from at least two.

"Who knew the kid from General Studies would give us the most interesting fight yet! Will any of the others top this?"

He coughs. His everything is going to be sore for days.

"Oh I can see now! They really made a mess of the arena, didn't they! That's Midnight down there and-"

Izuku blinks. The arena is covered in rubble, though what ice there was must have melted in the heat of that last blast.

He's alone on the stage.

"Todoroki is out of bounds!" Kayama-sensei yells. "Midoriya wins!"

Todoroki is pushing himself to his feet on the grass outside the arena. His uniform is in tatters and singed around the edges. He looks at Izuku, blinking owlishly, mouth slightly agape.

Izuku smiles and waves shyly.

Todoroki blinks again, and lifts his hand to wave.


	13. The One with the Sports Festival part 4

Their seats are closer to Todoroki's end of the arena. At least with his match against Sero, Todoroki was facing them so they could see Sero up until he was encased in ice.

No such luck here. Present Mic calls start to the fight and the glacier springs up across the concrete from Todoroki's foot—growing away from them. Deku is lost from sight almost immediately.

The ice shatters.

Behind him, Mina shrieks. Eijirou gasps, a grin burning on his face.

The last tendrils of flame lick at what remains of the ice as Deku sprints forward toward Todoroki. Another glacier springs up and it shatters just as fast as the first one did.

"Oh my god! _Oh my god!"_ Mina's nails are digging into his shoulders and she's probably not quite aware of how loudly she's shrieking.

Deku reaches Todoroki and before the guy can even move Deku jumps on him and slams him to the ground.

"Holy shit!" Kaminari claps a hand over his mouth. "Holy shit! There's no way this guy is in general studies."

Present Mic is screaming something and Eijirou can't stop grinning.

"What is his quirk? It's got to be ridiculously strong to take Todoroki's ice out so easily." Sero's eyes are gleaming.

"I didn't even get to see what his quirk was!" Mina whines. "Kiri! Tell us what it is!"

On the field, Todoroki pushes Deku far enough away that another wall of ice erupts between them. One of the torches is ripped off its pedestal and tears through the air (Deku drops to the ground and it looks like the fireball misses him by centimeters), shattering the wall of ice. Deku is on his feet again tearing towards Todoroki.

"That! Did you see that? That's his quirk." Eijirou points down at the field.

"I have no idea what the fuck just happened." Kaminari's eyes are wide. "Did he just pull the torch off the stand?"

"Yeah!" Eijirou is sure the grin is going to split his face open. "Isn't it cool?"

Bakugou tenses. His knuckles are white, nails digging into his arms where he has them folded.

"That's so cool!" Mina yells, shaking Eijirou where she has him by the shoulders.

"Isn't it? I've never actually seen him fight with it, it's way cooler than I thought." The torches aren't relighting. Huh. He hopes that won't be a problem.

"Who do you think is going to win now?" Sero says.

"You just have to get the other person out of bounds or immobilize them, right?" Kaminari says. "Midoriya could have immobilized him lots of times! Like, he keeps getting him down and then stepping off so Todoroki can get back up."

"Oh shit, you're right." Eijirou was probably a little too awestruck to notice that. Hmm. "I have no idea what he's doing, then."

"Didn't Bakugou say that if Midoriya used his quirk that Todoroki didn't stand a chance?" Mina hums. "He's definitely used his quirk—"

Her sentence cuts off in a gasp as Todoroki is engulfed in flames. He just straight up. lights on fire.

"Half and half just lost."

Eijirou looks up to where Bakugou is sitting—standing. He stood up. He shoves his hands in his pockets and leaves. Eijirou can't read his expression (though if he had to guess he would say pain? Fear?).

Mina is yelling in his ear and he turns back to the field.

Todoroki shoots a stream of fire in Deku's direction.

Midnight and Cementoss are running toward the arena. "No no no they're going to stop the fight!" Eijirou yells.

The fire reaches Deku and swallows him.

It doesn't continue past him though. It slingshots around him and then the tip of the stream of fire is headed straight for Todoroki.

Cementoss reaches the stage and suddenly three huge cement walls spring upward from the stage.

The stream of fire crashes into and through them.

The blinding shock of light turns into a thunderous crash and rubble explodes outward from the arena.

Mina squeaks and ducks as shards of cement and dust shower the stands. Eijirou instinctively hardens himself and shields his face with his arm.

" _Listeners! What have we just witnessed?_ " Present Mic's voice rings above the din.

Kaminari and Sero are coughing. Eijirou frantically searches the arena—what happened? Are they okay?

Dust still hangs heavy in the air and he can't see anything.

Present Mic keeps yelling about dust on the battlefield and that was the most interesting fight yet yada yada. His phone is vibrating in his pocket. No doubt its Chie and Kuma. Where is Shinsou sitting? Does he have a better view? Can he see what's going on, because Eijirou sure can't.

Slowly he starts to see. That person on the side of the arena is clearly Cementoss – the person across from him is probably Midnight. And other than them there's… one? One person still on the stage?

"Todoroki is out of bounds!" Midnight yells. "Midoriya wins!"

"What?!" Mina screeches from behind him.

"Oh my god, what?!" Sero yells. "There's no way—what?!"

The dust is still settling, but—"No look there!" Eijirou points to where Todoroki is struggling to his feet on the grass outside the arena. His gym uniform is in tatters and he looks a little singed around the edges.

"He did it! He beat the strongest kid in our class, I'm in shook." Kaminari clutches a hand over his hear. "In shook I tell you. I'm almost glad Shiozaki beat me because I'd have to face him in round three and I assure you I would have just cried."

"And then you would have gotten your ass handed to you, just like you deserve," Mina cackles. "Ei you've got to introduce me to this kid _please_ this is important to me."

Eijirou laughs. "Yeah yeah I will!" On the field, Izuku hops off what's left of the stage and walks out of the arena with Todoroki at his side.

Eijirou is tempted to go looking for Bakugou, but he wonders if that wouldn't be a good idea.

…

 **ProfessionalYike:**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'M SHAKING**

 **BestJeanass: she hasn't stopped screaming**

 **BestJeanass: someone spare me my eardrums can't take this**

 **ProfessionalYike: KUMA I'M EXCITED HOW ARE YYOU NOT**

 **Mindfuck: I must admit I share kuma's sentiment**

 **CrimmsonRiott: nah I'm with chie**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I havne't stopped grinning since the match started when he shattered that first glacier**

 **ProfessionalYike: BITCH SAME**

 **ProfessionalYike: WHERES MY BOY IZUKU WHERE IS HE I NEED TO YELL AT HIM**

 **BestJeanass: chie… chie he's probably like in the nurses or smthn**

 **BestJeanass: idk how well y'all can see from the stands but they got some pretty good close ups for us**

 **BestJeanass: and that fall? Where he slammed tdrki into the cement?**

 **BestJeanass: we go shot of that and there was so much blood**

 **CrimmsonRiott: no shit! I think they're doing replays on the big screens now while they fix the arena**

 **Mindfuck: yeah I saw that it's gotta hurt**

 **ProfessionalYike: wait does this mean that Izuku has secured a spot on the podium?**

 **BestJeanass: if they do 1, 2, 3, 3 then yes**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I think that's what they're doing**

 **ProfessionalYike:**

…

"That was some fight you boys had," Recovery Girl says, tsking as they walk in. "You're not making my job any easier, you know."

"We know." It's the first thing Todoroki has said since their fight. Izuku isn't quite sure how to read the mood, but at least Todoroki let him walk with him up to the nurse's office. Maybe there's no hard feelings? He still can't stop the queasy snake in his gut telling him that he shouldn't have used Todoroki like that— _nothing but a lying, manipulative monster who uses other people for your own gain_ —

Recovery Girl tsks again. "Well, come over here and let me look at you. You've sure done a number on your face, Todoroki."

"Sorry about that, again," Izuku squeaks. It's about the fifth time he's apologized for it. Todoroki has yet to respond, so here he is. Apologizing again. Like a fool.

Todoroki shuffles forward and she grabs his chin in her hand, turning his head from side to side. "Broken. It's an easy fix, though your nose will probably be crooked for the rest of your life."

"That's fine," he says.

Recovery Girl activates her quirk and the cartilage in Todoroki's face snaps back into place. He winces, bringing his hand up to prod gently at the skin. "Thank you."

"If they didn't encourage you to be so reckless you wouldn't have to thank me," she grumbles. "Anything else I need to look at?"

"Other than bruising, I don't think so."

"Let me heal those too, you took some heavy falls." Todoroki sighs, but doesn't protest as she activates her quirk again.

"I'm sorry, again," Izuku says. "I didn't mean to—especially the one kick, I overestimated the jump and then it was too late and I'm really sorry I didn't mean to hurt you that badly—"

"Midoriya."

Izuku jumps, flinching a little under Todoroki's steady gaze.

"It's fine."

"Are you sure?"

Todoroki sighs. "Yes, I'm sure. We were fighting, and I'm fine now. There's…" he shakes his head. "You hold no fault for that."

"Maybe not, but I still need to look him over. Midoriya, get over here," Recovery Girl says.

Izuku bows his head and steps toward her. "I think it's just my knee and some bruises," he says. "Your quirk takes energy to heal, right? I need to fight in the next round so you can probably leave the bruises alone for now."

Recovery Girl sighs. She has to put up with so much shit, Izuku feels bad. "That should be fine." She activates her quirk, kissing him on the forehead. "I healed your burns too. The nerve endings there were probably so fried you didn't feel them."

"Oh! Thank you." Izuku blinks.

"Now go get cleaned up, you two. You're both in need of a change of clothes."

…

They walk in silence for a little while. Todoroki doesn't make any effort to get away from him, but they're certainly not talking, so Izuku lets the silence stand and loses himself in his thoughts.

"Did you mean what you said?"

"What?" the snap back to reality leaves him reeling.

"Did you mean what you said, or were you just goading me into using my left side?" Todoroki's voice is level and calculated. Izuku can almost hear the pain behind it, and winces.

"I did mean it. You don't owe your father anything. It is your quirk, not his." Izuku shakes his head. Didn't he just have this conversation with Shinsou? "It's not… hmm. You're not him."

Todoroki hums quietly. "Did you mean all of it?"

Izuku looks up at him, eyebrows pinched. "Yes?"

"Even the bit about your mother?"

"Oh." Oh. He's not. He's not sure if he's ready to have this conversation. But a life story for a life story, right? Good heavens his relationship with Todoroki is strange, and they've only known each other for less than a day. "Yes, I uh, yeah. I meant that."

Todoroki nods, pausing before he walks into locker room for the heroics department. "I'm sorry."

Izuku forces a smile. "It's fine. My dad was a coward and a drunk—but he's gone now and it's better this way."

Todoroki nods again before turning and disappearing behind the door. Izuku sighs, his shoulders slumping as he turns and heads for the General Studies' locker rooms. He's so tired. The burning in his throat is back again and fuck, Chie isn't going to be around when this one processes, is she?

It hasn't yet. Processed that is. He's living in a fuzzy haze of vague emotions just praying that he can at least make it home before his brain registers that something went horribly wrong today. Well, not horribly wrong. He's in the top four now, isn't he? He just had to take a couple of shady moves to get there and he's not exceptionally proud of that.

Not to mention everything with Dad.

He'd be lying if he said that he hasn't thought about him in a while—he's never far from Izuku's mind. Today has just been… it's been rough. The scars on his upper arms sting and tingle and he rubs at them frantically with marred hands, tears burning in his eyes.

His nerve endings there are dead. He knows this. They won't stop hurting, why—

His throat burns and he chokes.

God this is so stupid, he still can't feel it it's not there it's not even _real_ yet, why? _Why?_

 _In 2, 3, 4, 5, out 2, 3, 4, 5—_

Counting helps. He pushes air in and out of his lungs, holding his hands over his eyes until the shaking stops. He just needs to breathe. Put it out of his mind for a little longer. Just a little longer. Soon he'll be home with Mom and then he can think about this again but not now.

Now is not the time.

He pulls out his phone. There are about a million notifications from the group chat and a text (a text?) from Chie.

 **[Disaster Lesbian]**

Izuku? Are you okay?

I didn't want to say in the gc

But that looked a little intense. you good?

 **[Me]**

Depends.

I think I'm okay right now? it hasn't processed yet

The whole thing dragged up a lot of stuff about dad

 **[Disaster Lesbian]**

Oh no honey

Do you want to talk?

 **[Me]**

Actually? that would be great. I can call you when this gets over?

 **[Disaster Lesbian]**

3 3 3 of course!

I am proud of you! That fight was awesome, you did so well!

 **[Me]**

Thank you 3

I'll call you later.

 **[Disaster Lesbian]**

3

He breathes another sigh. That's something to look forward to. Chie was with him through the worst of the fallout with Dad when they were both really young. She knows better than almost anyone. It'll be good to talk to her. They should plan a weekend to meet up. It's only been a month, but that feels way too long.

He shoves his phone into his pocket and pulls a new gym shirt on. The sleeves are tight around the scars on his upper arms and the pressure feels nice. Keeps him from feeling them so much.

Maybe he took long enough changing that he won't have to run into Todoroki on the way out? There are things he still needs to say, but his pulse is a little fast and he's a little too light-headed right now for any kind of conversation like that.

Iida and Shiozaki's match is probably running now, isn't it? He'll have to fight one of them, he should probably go watch, but the thought of heading back into the stands is making his stomach churn. Maybe he'll wander around for a bit and then catch Shinsou's match.

Yeah, that sounds good.

He breathes again, long and controlled, eyes closed. Yeah, this will be fine. He'll be fine. He can do this.

.

He's made it approximately 10 steps down the hallway before he crashes into someone. Again. Fuck. In his defense, he was totally zoned out and they were coming around the corner, so even if he was paying attention he wouldn't have seen them until it was too late and _anyway_ —

"Sorry! I didn't see you there…" the words die on his tongue. Of course it's Endeavor. Who else? Today has been such a great day.

"It's you." Endeavor sneers.

Izuku definitely wants to shrink and apologize and run away, but you know? He's going to let the anger curling in his gut win this round. He squares his shoulders. "It's me."

"How dare you—"

"How dare I what? You said to make the match interesting, didn't you? I was only doing what I was told." Endeavor wouldn't kill him, would he? He's the number two hero—abuser or not he probably wouldn't murder Izuku in cold blood. Probably.

"You insolent _brat_ — Shouto was my greatest creation, and you have the audacity-! Do you have any idea who you're talking to?"

"Believe me, I know exactly who you are." His face is blank. A perfect deadpan. He has to keep it like this or he'll start crying and that wouldn't end well. "Todoroki is your greatest creation, you say? That's funny. You created him to be stronger than you but I rolled right over him. I'm stronger than you." He makes eye contact with the Flame Hero (some hero) and tries to force as much rage into his eyes as he can while maintaining the deadpan. "Face it, Enji, you'll always be staring at someone's back."

Behind him he hears a sharp intake of breath.

Not alone then. Fuck. He just called Endeavor by his first name, that's about the single rudest thing he could have done if he wasn't a dead man before, he definitely is now—

He turns around and oh! It's Todoroki! That's definitely the best case scenario here. Todoroki probably won't have his head for talking to his father that way. Probably. Hopefully.

Todoroki is staring between them with wide eyes.

"Shouto." Endeavor's voice is measured, but clearly angry. "Come with me." He turns on his heel and Todoroki moves to follow him.

Izuku catches him by the arm. "Talk to me later?" he says, hopefully low enough that Endeavor didn't hear.

Todoroki nods wordlessly before following his father around the corner and away from Izuku.

Now alone, Izuku lets out the breath he was holding and digs the heels of his hands into his eyes. He's going to need about a month just to recover from today, holy shit.

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: Small_Might Mindfuck come sit with usss**

 **CrimmsonRiott: like. Toshi I know u got a match rn but when you get done come join us int the 1a box**

 **Mindfuck: will do**

Hitoshi sighs, stretching to stare up at the ceiling. He's up against Tokoyami. Which means he's probably going to lose this one. Figures.

He can't have the wonderful luck to fall in with overtalkative people all the time.

Oh well. He indirectly beat about three quarters of the heroics department, that's got to count for something, right?

He braces himself against the table and pushes himself to his feet. Might as well make his way to the start. He can either stand around there or he can stand around here. Doesn't make much of a difference.

He's barely a step out of the door when Midoriya crashes into him.

"Sorry! Sorry I didn't see you. Maybe I did? I was looking for you and then I kinda got lost in thought and then you were right there! Sorry are you okay?" Midoriya asks, rubbing his forehead where it smashed into Shinsou's shoulder.

"I'm fine, are you okay? Full offense, but you look a little frazzled."

Midoriya laughs. It's very clearly forced. "Fine. A little uh, tired? That was a rough fight." He's looking everywhere but at Hitoshi's face.

"Rough is a bit of an understatement." Shit. The match in front of him is done, he needs to get onto the field. "Hey listen. Look at me."

Midoriya finally looks him in the face. His eyes are red and swollen—still glistening, actually, and there are fresh tear tracks down the sides of his face. That's probably why he wasn't looking at him then. Shit this is worse than he thought.

"Go up there and sit with Ei. I'll be up there as soon as I can and then if you need to talk you can talk or if you just need to exist for a little bit we can do that too. Okay? You're safe you're fine I'm not going to let anyone hurt you."

Midoriya nods wordlessly, a fresh batch of tears spilling out of his eyes. "Thanks." He tries to smile. It almost works. "Good luck, Toshi. Sorry I couldn't be more help right now—"

"Midoriya, it's fine." There's some part of his mind telling him that this kind of situation requires physical contact in order to properly comfort, but fuck he doesn't know how or what or if it would be awkward or— "I'm just going to go out there and do my best. That all we can do, right?"

Midoriya's body shakes with what he's assuming is some kind of laugh as he wipes the tears from his face. "Right. You'll do great, I know you will."

Hitoshi isn't so sure.

.

The early afternoon sunlight streaming into the stadium is a stark contrast to the dark cement tunnel leading into it. Shinsou squints into it, making his way across the field and up onto the cement arena.

" _He came out of nowhere in the first two rounds and then defeated his first opponent without lifting a finger—will he continue to surprise us? It's Shinsou Hitoshi from General Studies! And in the other corner! Could he have the strongest quirk ever recorded? It's Tokoyami Fumikage from Heroics!"_

Hitoshi squares his shoulders and forces his face to relax into a bored deadpan. Across from him, Tokoyami looks… well he's not entirely sure. The guy has a bird head and Hitoshi isn't exactly practiced at reading the expressions of pigeons.

He just has to get this guy to talk before he pulls out his quirk. It's like one of those old American movies. The two of them standing across from each other, knowing full well that whoever draws first wins. It's not going to be a long match.

" _Start!"_

"What's the name of your quirk?"

"Dark Shadow—Go!"

Well fuck. He can feel the very edges of Tokoyami's volition floating through his mind, but he can't grab hold of them. He didn't directly respond. Fuck. Well, that answers that question at least. He's sure Midoriya would love to know.

The demon? Thing? Is swooping toward him and he doesn't have many courses of action. Fuck, what would Midoriya do?

He's in a fighting stance and he didn't realize it (all those practices must have paid off). Nice. That's good. That's something.

The bird-demon-thing dives for him, maw gaping and clawed hands spread wide. Hitoshi drops and rolls out from under it, missing its claws by millimeters.

Fuck okay he can't keep this up forever new plan new plan. Does the demon thing talk?

"Hey you!" he yells as he pushes himself to his feet. The palms of his hands are scraped. Maybe bleeding. They certainly sting something awful. Whose idea was it to do this on concrete?

The bird demon spins to face him.

"Yeah, you! What the fuck _are_ you?" He has no idea what he's doing.

The bird thing snarls, but doesn't say anything before it dives for him again. Hitoshi rolls out of the way. Clumsily. Very clumsily. He can't keep this up forever.

However, a snarl means that this thing must have some kind of voice box. That's good. That's progress. "That's not an answer! Are you a bird? A demon?"

The thing lunges for him again, and this time he doesn't have time to roll away. He braces himself and it rams into his arms, crossed over his face.

It's significantly more solid than he expected it to be and he stumbles backward. Almost out of bounds. He catches himself first. That was close. This is cutting everything way too close. Come to think of it, this thing is a quirk, right? Could he even take control of it? fuck.

"Answer me, you fuck!"

"I said his name—how dense are you?"

Hitoshi almost misses it. Almost. He doesn't though, and grabs onto Tokoyami's volition with everything he's got.

It's not like Tokoyami himself was moving much to begin with, but he freezes, rigid. Fuck yes.

"Turn around and walk out of the arena."

Tokoyami turns and the demon-bird screeches.

Fuck! What? No. no there's no way.

It dives for Tokoyami, ramming into his shoulders and making him stumble forward (not out of bounds, though!)

You've got to draw a line. You've got to say 'how much shit am I willing to put up with today?'

Hitoshi just crossed that line.

Tokoyami spins around, and maybe Hitoshi isn't an expert on pigeon expressions, but that! That is definitely anger. Fuck. He's so screwed.

"You mad?"

The bird-demon squawks (in response! Fuck yes it has volition!) and moves to dive for him but Hitoshi grabs the mental threads there and yanks. The yell dies in its throat and it freezes mid air.

This is good this is progress he can work with this.

This match is certainly going on longer than he thought it would. Maybe his chance of winning this is slim, but at least he's putting up some kind of fight. That's got to count for something.

"Push him out of bounds!" he has no idea how this guy's quirk works. Hopefully this won't be a stupid move.

The bird-demon turns and dives for Tokoyami, crashing into him and pushing him backwards. Tokoyami braces himself against the ground—trying desperately to fight… himself? Today has been weird. This fight isn't helping it.

Something in his mind yanks and Hitoshi stumbles forward. What the fuck?

Oh. Fuck, Tokoyami probably has some control over the demon-thing's volition too. Great! This is great. He grits his teeth and presses down on his temples to fight the pain and hold onto the quickly dissipating threads of control he still has.

Tokoyami is almost out of bounds he just needs to hold this for a little longer—

He gasps and almost loses his balance as Tokoyami (and his bird demon thing) both squawk some kind of victory.

The demon-thing dives for him again. He grits his teeth. The pain pulses, bright and intense, behind his eyes.

Fuck.

Yeah he isn't going to last much longer.

He braces himself (as much as he can). The bird-demon crashes into him (very aggressively forehead bumps him) and he loses his balance and stumbles backwards.

"Shinsou is out of bounds!" Midnight yells. Hitoshi looks down. One foot out of bounds. Figures. "Tokoyami wins!"

He rubs his temples. The pain still pulses behind his eyes. It's a little softer now, but not enough that he doesn't feel like his head is going to implode.

Because he does. Feel like his head is going to implode. Recovery girl better be able to help with this.

"Shinsou, right?"

Hitoshi opens his eyes (fuck the sun). Tokoyami is standing closer to him and the bird-demon thing is gone. "Yeah. That's me. Tokoyami?"

He nods and then tilts his head to the side (a gesture to walk off together? Maybe? He probably still has relatively human body language despite the pidgeon expressions). "You were a respectable opponent, you almost defeated me a few different times. What is your quirk?" He starts walking and Hitoshi follows him.

"Uhh," Hitoshi closes his eyes again and rubs at his temples. "Brainwashing?"

"Fascinating," Tokoyami mumbles. "So that's what you did to Dark Shadow. I had never lost control of him like that before, it was quite an experience."

"That's your quirk? Dark Shadow?"

Tokoyami quirks his head to the side. "Yes?"

"That's its name? You just named it after your quirk's name?" He's picking up too many things from Midoriya. Fuck his head hurts.

Tokoyami trills. In retrospect that's probably how he laughs but still. He _trilled_. "My quirk is named after him, actually. It's the first of its kind."

"Right." He winces. "It was nice fighting you Tokoyami. Good luck next time, but you've given me the worst migraine I have ever had so I'm going to go knock myself out real quick."

Tokoyami almost looks startled, but laughs again. "My apologies. I look forward to talking to you again."

Hitoshi nods and he and Tokoyami part ways.

What a strange guy. Significantly more Hitoshi's speed than all the other over-hyper people he seems to collect. Fuck look at that, he's thinking about making friends again.

Midoriya did this to him. Fuck him and his "friendship."

Hitoshi winces again. Fuck this migraine especially.

…

There are a couple thinks Inko knows for sure after watching her son fight today. First, this whole event is definitely taking years off her life and she's going to go entirely grey by this time next year if Izuku keeps this up. Second, if Izuku doesn't invite Todoroki over for dinner she is going to do it herself, everything about that boy's mannerisms is absolutely activating her Mom instincts. Not to mention that if this is who Izuku was talking about when he said he found someone 'like him' – oh god Inko can't even imagine.

Toshinori stayed with her until Izuku's second match was over, but then excused himself. She doesn't blame him, the principle had been rather insistent, but now she's alone in the teacher's box and Izuku hasn't responded to any of her texts and she can't help that's she's worried, okay?

She can only pray that he'll come to her if he needs her. She clutches her phone tighter in her hands as she watches Katsuki walk out into the arena, the scar on his cheek dark against his pale skin.

He's grown so much since he was the little boy she knew. It's hard now, to see the resemblance. The way his shoulders hunch, the sneer on his face—she would never believe he was the child with the brightest smile and the most wide-eyed optimism. A lot has changed since then.

She desperately hopes he and Izuku don't meet in the finals.

…

 **BestJeanass: Toshi I am 10/10 proud you almost had him a couple times**

 **BestJeanass: I was yellin**

 **ProfessionalYike: it's true! You got kuma to yell I was also yelling though so**

 **ProfessionalYike: how u doin? You weren't looking so good by the end**

 **Mindfuck: yeah that bird fucker did me in**

 **Mindfuck: no hard feelings to him? he seems like a nice enough guy**

 **Mindfuck: but that was the worst migraine I have ever had**

 **Mindfuck: ever**

 **BestJeanass: bro I'm sorry**

 **BestJeanass: you still did hella good tho it was a good match**

 **Mindfuck: thanks**

 **ProfessionalYike: Ei's up now, yea? I'm hyped I hope he can wreck Kacchan**

 **BestJeanass: same tbh**

…

Izuku can't help but feel like this was poor planning on all their parts. Very poor planning. He came up here to 1-A's box to sit with Eijirou but then Ei had to leave because his match was soon and Toshi was out fighting so now he's stuck here sitting with Eijirou's friends and they're nice and all but he doesn't know them at all and doesn't know what to say and they congratulated him on his fight, which was nice, but what do you say past that? Nothing! There's not even anybody up here that Izuku is remotely familiar with—Uraraka isn't here (they said she was? But she stepped out for a minute) and Iida is here but Izuku doesn't know him that well and he's not sure Iida likes him that much anyway and in any case he probably wouldn't like Izuku sidling up to him so close to their match against each other and the only other three people Izuku knows in this class are Kacchan (who isn't here, thank the heavens), Tokoyami, who's fight just got over and so isn't up here, and Todoroki, who he can't even say that he knows properly, they've spoken _twice_ after all, but anyway he isn't here either and so Izuku is left bouncing his leg nervously and watching the door for when Hitoshi is going to show up.

His fight is over and so he's gotta be back here soon, right? Izuku is in desperate need of a social anchor come on Toshi where the fuck are you-!

Somewhere in the distance he thinks he can hear Present Mic yelling introductions. Ei's probably down there now and if he could _see_ anything he'd probably notice his shock of bright red hair bouncing around before the start of the match. But hey! We can't all have nice things. Certainly not.

"Zuku. Hey. Look at me."

Someone's talking but it's really far away.

" _Izuku_."

Izuku's head snaps to the side and oh hey would you look at that, it's Toshi.

He looks concerned. Izuku wonders why. "Hey, are you with me? Izuku. Look at me. Are you here right now?"

No? No he's probably not. Hmm.

Something touches his shoulder. hands. On his arm then clutched around his hands. They're cold. Or he's cold. It's something. It's a feeling.

"Listen to me, okay? Can you hear me?" maybe Izuku nods. "Okay. Just. Concentrate on my voice. You're here. You're safe right now. fuck. I'm here and I'm going to keep you safe."

Izuku has a death grip on Toshi's hands, but at least he can tell that now.

"Are you back?"

He nods again, but doesn't let go of Toshi's hands. "You did good."

Toshi snorts. "I come up here to see you hardcore disassociating and that's the first thing you say to me?"

"You did good. You almost won." His head is still fuzzy and he's having a hard time concentrating on more than two senses at a time, but he's getting there.

"Almost. When you're back a little more I've got some new quirk facts that I'm sure you'd love to know."

Izuku nods. "Yes, I would. Tell me in a bit. Maybe when this is over."

"Okay." Toshi squeezes his hand.

On the field, Ei is fighting a losing match (He can see it now, though to some extent he wishes he couldn't). Just means Kacchan is one step closer to being in the finals and Izuku is one step closer to being in the finals and maybe if Toshi had won against Tokoyami then he wouldn't have to face Kacchan in the finals but Tokoyami's quirk is weak to light and guess what! Kacchan's quirk is made of light the poor guy doesn't stand a chance and then Kacchan is just going to be in the finals and what if Izuku makes it there too, sure he doesn't know how his match against Iida is going to go but he isn't about to deliberately screw it over in order to avoid Kacchan. Or you know. Maybe he will. Maybe he won't? He'd still probably be able to beat Kacchan in a fight but god, at what cost?"

"Izuku. _Breathe_. Fuck's sake—"

Oh shit. He wasn't breathing again. Or he was breathing too much? Hmm.

He's got a death grip on Toshi's hands, poor guy. Izuku is gonna have to buy him lunch for all of this. Counting. Counting is good.

This is all gonna be a bitch to process. He's just got to hold it off for a little longer.

"Are you back?"

"Maybe?" his voice doesn't quite sound like his own voice.

"That's fine. You're fine. It's all fine." Toshi sighs. Izuku definitely owes him lunch. "Your match is up next, isn't it?"

"Oh shit." Izuku blinks and leans forward, letting go of Toshi's hands to rub at his eyes. "It is, isn't it?" His senses are slowly coming back to him. The roar of the crowd and Present Mic yelling… something. "That wasn't very long."

"Afraid not."

He stops rubbing his eyes and looks around, blinking. He can see again. Nice. That's a good thing. "Good planning on our part."

Toshi snorts. "Excellent planning. Do you need me to walk you down there?"

Izuku shakes his head. "I think I'll be okay, thanks though."

"You sure?"

Izuku pushes himself to his feet and forces a smile. "Yeah. Walking around should clear my head or something, right?"

Toshi doesn't look convinced, but he lets him go. "Do you have a plan?"

Izuku shrugs. "I mean. Yeah?"

Toshi quirks a smile. "Should be interesting then."

"Should be."

…

Iida Tenya is a very big person. He's tall he's broad and he's built like a brick shithouse. Just. Very muscular. With a quirk like his it almost makes sense, but at the same time, this is a little ridiculous. Not that Izuku isn't strong, just that, well, if it came down to brute strength Iida would crush him without a second thought. So then the natural progression is – if your opponent is bigger and stronger than you then you just have to be faster!

WELL GUESS WHAT

The blood is pounding in Izuku's ears and Mic is yelling something that he can't hear. Introductions and what not. Hopefully he doesn't miss the start call.

His only plan is that this is going to come down to a shoot-out. Can he activate his quirk before Iida gets to him.

Who is faster.

That's going to be the deciding factor here, because otherwise he doesn't have a chance.

He closes his eyes briefly. Takes in a deep breath. Breathes out slowly.

He's got to find a center.

He's got to be in control.

His ears still feel like they're full of cotton, but maybe that's a good thing.

His shoes scrape against the concrete as he shifts into some kind of starting stance. Iida is doing the same. He's not sure how much of his fighting style he's given away. He's not sure what Iida is going to do. He has some guesses but in all honesty, the guy hasn't given a lot away.

Midnight's baton swings downward and Iida lunges.

Must have been the start of the fight.

Fascinating.

He's maybe a second too late (this is what happens when you can't fucking hear) but he activates his quirk and yanks. The two torches behind Iida roar to life and rocket toward him. This hmm. Wasn't thought through very well.

Oh well.

Iida reaches him before the fires reach Iida and then he's grabbing Izuku by the collar of his gym uniform and yanking him off his feet and turning a solid 90* to run Izuku out of the arena.

You know? That's actually pretty smart. Until this point he hasn't really turned or redirected fire like this, so assuming he pulled the torches off, as long as Iida got out of the path he should be safe.

Hmm. Too bad that isn't how this is gonna work.

He tugs harder in his chest and wow! The fire from the torches have merged together and that's an awfully big bonfire rocketing toward them.

The tug on his collar changes and oh. Iida is throwing him out of bounds.

So he's lost now.

That's fine.

Or it would be, except for the Massive Bonfire that is still rocketing toward the two of them at breakneck speeds. That's… well that's not excellent.

Fuck.

Iida lets go of him and he's hurtling through the air (for maybe milliseconds, it feels like eternities). Izuku tries desperately to land in some kind of upright position—anything that will allow him to redirect the fire.

"Duck!" his own voice is foggy in his ears, like he's hearing it from underwater.

Iida's eyes go wide, but he does, and the bonfire zips above his head.

Izuku is engulfed. It tears at his skin and he pulls it away—tries to spin, tries to move, tries to force it away in any way possible.

His eyes are closed against the light. His ears still filled with some kind of cotton. His nerve endings are deadened but he can still feel them burning.

All in all he's really not sure what's happening, at least on a cognitive level. He's moving though. which is good. Moving means he's doing something with his quirk, he can definitely feel that pull, and he only hopes he's worked with it enough that some kind of instinct will take over.

There's a sound. A big one. Kind of a "whoosh" but louder. Izuku opens his eyes and blinks.

The roar of the crowd is loud in his ears and Present Mic is yelling something about how quick of a match that was and how close and wow, this general studies student really took third place in the sports festival and would have been in the finals if it weren't for an inconvenient quirk match up and isn't that amazing! This is unprecedented!

It's all very loud.

But hey! He can hear again, that's got to count for something.

The fire is fizzling out—he must have directed it into the concrete.

His arms sting. So does his face. A few spots on his shoulders. There are some kind of tears welling in his eyes and he blinks them back. A pain response, probably.

Everything is very loud right now and thinking is hard.

"Midoriya?"

His head snaps up. Iida is talking to him.

"Hi! Yeah that's me. Iida, right?"

Iida adjusts his glasses. "That's correct! I wanted to thank you for the fight, you proved to be a worthy opponent!"

Izuku feels himself chuckle. "Thanks? You beat me within the first five seconds, though."

Iida beams. "That's no matter! I had to work very hard to come up with a plan to beat you! Your match against Todoroki made you look nearly invincible." He adjusts his glasses again. "It really came down to a bad quirk match up, I think. Though I must admit it would have been quite shameful of me to lose this match to a general studies student. No offense intended."

Izuku chokes on a laugh. "None taken. Good luck in the finals."

"Thank you!"

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: YO**

 **CrimmsonRiott: VALIANT EFFORT**

 **CrimmsonRiott: iidas a big guy i dont think I could beat him**

 **ProfessionalYike: STILL THOUGH I WANTED IZUKU TO WIN**

 **ProfessionalYike: :/**

 **BestJeanass: we all did tbh.**

 **BestJeanass: I'm not disappointed tho? Third is still pretty good**

 **CrimmsonRiott: it is good!**

…

His head is a little more clear now, maybe walking around did help? Or the fight? Something. In any case Izuku fees a little more in control on his own limbs and good heavens isn't that a relief.

He's out of the running but he got what, third? Fourth? That's not half bad, especially considering how poorly he did in the entrance exam.

Hmm.

He should probably go find Todoroki, they have… there are things that need to be said and he'd rather say them sooner than later. You know. Get all the hard feeling sorted out today rather than letting them fester.

As much as he hates it he did take advantage of Todoroki in order to win. and… he'd rather not let that fester for either of them. Too bad he has literally no idea where to find Todoroki. No idea! He wasn't sitting with the rest of 1-A and he looks like he didn't have a lot of friends, so nobody that Izuku could use to track him down with.

Maybe if he just keeps his head down he'll run into Todoroki. That's worked pretty well so far today, actually. More so with the _other_ Todoroki, but that's not important.

In other news he should probably go find Mom… he hasn't talked to her since before his fight with Todoroki and in all honestly? He probably should find her. The bulk of the conversation will have to come out when they're safely at home, but honestly? Talking to her right now would definitely be a good idea. Even if it's just for a hug.

Yeah. That would be smart. He should head over to where she (and Yagi?) are sitting. See them both. Avoid watching Kacchan fight for just a little longer (Tokoyami doesn't stand a chance… it's going to be Iida and Kacchan in the finals, isn't it? He hates that. Hopefully Iida has some kind of plan. He doesn't want to see Kacchan wins. He always wins—).

If only he or Toshi could have faced him. Either of them could have beaten him and then we wouldn't be faced with this predicament, would we?

But alas.

He can't have nice things.

If one thing has been made evident over the course of his life, it's that.

But hey! He's got mom and he's got Toshi and he can hide out with them until the tournament is over if he needs to. No big deal.

.

Okay look this one wasn't his fault. He was walking straight! No turning around corners! It was Todoroki who came out of a side hallway and crashed into him. Izuku is not to blame here what on earth are you talking about. I mean, yeah sure he wasn't exactly looking where he was going but he thought he was alone!

Apparently not.

Todoroki is here now and they're both apologizing profusely to each other in a jumble of words that would make no sense to any normal human and hardly make sense to them.

"Sorry again I was, ah, looking for you." Todoroki doesn't meet his eyes. "You said you wanted to talk?"

"Yes! Sorry. I do. Are you okay? Should we go somewhere?" now that the moment is here he's finding that al his words have left him. Goodbye coherency it was nice knowing you.

"I would like to go somewhere private, yes." Todoroki nods. His face is still a blank deadpan. Izuku really wishes he could read him. Get some kind of idea where this conversation is going to go.

Too bad he can't have nice things!

"Great! Fantastic. Let's uh…" Izuku looks around, realizing he has absolutely no idea where to even go from here. "Go somewhere. Um."

"I know a place," Todoroki says, and turns to walk away.

Izuku follows, silently thanking whatever god there is that Todoroki is more composed than he is. Actually come to think of it, he seems to collect people that are way more composed than he is. Distinguished and/or functional gays to balance out his chaotic energy. Hmm. Fascinating.

"For starters, I didn't mean to take advantage of you. Or, I guess that was kind of in the plan, but I didn't think it would work and I didn't really realize until it was too late how that would look from your end—encouraging you to use your left side and then taking advantage of it just like he would. It was an incredibly disrespectful move, especially because I know how you feel? I mean. My dad wasn't quite so horrible as I think yours is and he left when I was 8 or so, so I haven't even seen him in a while, but still! I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that it was very rude of me and I'm sorry—"

"Midoriya." Todoroki has stopped walking and turned to look at him. "It's not fine, exactly, but I think I understand why you did it."

"You do?"

Todoroki crosses his arms over his chest and looks off to the side. He hasn't looked Izuku in the face once. "Well you said it yourself. The world doesn't revolve around me and you all were out there giving it your all—"

"That's not it at all."

"What?" Todoroki looks up at him, eyes wide in some kind of doe-eyed surprise.

"I didn't…" Izuku shakes his head. "A life story for a life story, right? uh, my dad was… not the greatest person. A drunk and a coward. I already said that. He hit my mom when he was drunk. Did a lot of other bad things to her." He rubs absently at the scars on his upper arms. "He hurt me sometimes too, but not as often. Sometimes he would bring women home into our own house and kick my mom out so he could…" he shakes his head again. It's been a long time since he's told this story. "She wasn't… there was a girl. She was maybe 19. A lot younger than my dad. He ran away with her and I haven't seen him since. I've seen her though. She's actually really nice? She bought me ice cream once. Said that Dad went off somewhere and she doesn't know where he is.

"For years my mom would flinch every time I used my quirk because it was so similar to his. I hated it. I hated it because it would only hurt me and it would only hurt her and he'd already hurt us so much in just the same way—" he chokes. Good lord here come the tears. His hand tightens around the his arm, fingernails digging into the dead, scarred skin. "I didn't want to use it. I had the quirk of an abuser. Someone who could only hurt or take advantage of people. I didn't… I couldn't let myself be that.

"But the thing is, it's not his quirk. Genetically I may have half of his quirk, but the power is mine and I can do with it what I want. Just because he hurt people doesn't mean I have to. and when I saw you I… I saw me."

Todoroki is quiet. He probably said too much. Stupid. He shouldn't have talked so much. They went through totally different things how dare he compare their experiences. How dare he compare his own shitrag father to the abuse that Todoroki still has to face every day. The audacity—

"I see." Todoroki's answer is quiet.

"I really did mean it. It's your power, not his. He might use it to hurt people, but you don't have to."

"I…" Todoroki pauses. Still not looking at him. "Thank you."

Izuku forces a smile. "It's the least I can do. Actually, do you want to come over for dinner tonight? My Mom invited you."

Todoroki startles. "I… that's very kind. I'm not sure my father will let me go."

"Oh right. him." Izuku pulls a face and it almost makes Todoroki smile. "Sorry I called him by his first name, that probably wasn't the uh, smartest thing to do."

"Actually I'm glad you did. He wasn't happy about it, of course, but it's not often he gets criticized like that. It was… satisfying."

Izuku smiles. "I'm glad! At least my tomfoolery is good for something. And hey, even if you can't tonight, the dinner invitation is open for whenever you can get away. Just text me."

Todoroki nods. "Thank you. I definitely will." He shuffles his feet. "I should… probably go. Father will be looking for me."

Izuku winces. "As much as I hate that, it might be smart. I'll see you later?"

"Definitely."

"Good. It was nice meeting you, Todoroki."

"You as well. Good job in the tournament, you would make a wonderful hero."

Izuku laughs. "Thanks."

…

Halfway through the fight between Bakugou and Tokoyami, Iida's phone rings.

"Apologies," he says, standing up.

"Oh it's no worry!" Ochako says, beaming. "I'll tell you what you missed."

Iida smiles at her. "Thank you," he says, walking away and answering the call.

Ochako turns back to the match. Part of her doesn't feel quite so bad about losing to Bakugou since it seems that no one can beat him. she's kind of rooting for Tokoyami, mostly because he seems like a much nicer guy than Bakugou, but it doesn't look like he's going to win. Especially because he said his quirk is weak to light and, well, Bakugou's quirk is pretty light intensive.

Pity.

Maybe Iida can beat him in the finals. That would be cool! Iida is a great guy; it would be nice to see him on top of the podium.

…

Ei thankfully joined him in the 1-A box, so Hitoshi isn't just sitting there alone. So that's nice. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately? Depends on who's asking) Ei has a horde of friends that swarmed him as soon as he showed up. So now Hitoshi is nestled not-so-comfortably in the middle of a group of people including tape kid, electric kid, and the pink girl from his first match.

Excellent.

He keeps pulling up the group chat but it's been pretty quiet since Izuku's last match. So he has no distraction from the wild teenagers sitting around him.

Boy… they are talkative...

Bakugou wins the match and some of the people around him cheer.

"That's our boy!" the pink one (Ashido?) yells, throwing her fist into the air. "Do you think he'll win the whole thing?"

Hitoshi shrugs. "Maybe. Depends on how well engine-legs does."

The electric one laughs at that. "Engine legs that's good!"

"He's not wrong though," Elbows points out.

"Of course I'm not wrong, who do you think I am," Hitoshi mumbles. When is Izuku going to get here? Ei's great and all, but Hitoshi isn't quite as close to him and he is hella uncomfortable right now.

(Somewhere in the background he hears Midnight declare Bakugou the winner of the fight.)

"Deku! Hey! Buddy!" Ei's face lights up and hey. Speak of the devil.

"Hey guys." Izuku's voice is quiet, Hitoshi turns to look at him and ah. He's been crying. He's done a good job of hiding it, but Hitoshi can still tell. Fuck. Poor kid.

Pink girl jumps up out of her seat. "Midoriya! I've been just _dying_ to meet you, your quirk is so cool! And you fought so well! I was like, screaming the entire time."

"I can vouch for that," Elbows says.

Izuku laughs nervously and slinks into the seat next to Hitoshi. "Thanks guys. I uh, appreciate it."

"Really, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen. The way you took Todoroki down right at the beginning? Where you just kinda jumped and then BAM he was on the ground? Coolest thing I've ever seen!" Electric kid says, waving his arms around. "You'll have to show us how to do that, it was So Cool!"

"Yeah maybe some time." His eyes have some kind of faraway look. Hitoshi learns over (almost grabs his hand, but they're with a bunch of strangers and that would probably be taken wrong).

"Are you doing okay?"

"What? Oh yeah I'm fine. A little out of it is all." Izuku smiles at him.

Hitoshi isn't convinced, but it looks genuine enough so he'll have to accept it.

.

" _Listeners! It's time for the finale of the first year Sports Festival—and what a wild ride it's been! We've truly seen some unprecedented things this year! But it all boils down to this match. The two best will fight each other to determine who will claim their rightful place on top of the podium."_

"That's not true."

Hitoshi turns to look at Izuku, his eyebrows pinched. "What…?"

Izuku shakes his head. "The bracket system. It doesn't work like that."

" _On one side we have Bakugou Katsuki—a formidable opponent in the last two events, he has yet to claim a victory for himself but has proven that he has an explosive determination to win. On the other we have Iida Tenya! Coming from a long line of heroes, taking a win here will certainly bring honor to his name and his family. It has come down to these two, folks. It all ends here! We can only guess what will happen in this, the match to end all matches! Midnight, take it away!"_

"I could rearrange the bracket where you won. I could rearrange it where I won. It has nothing to do with skill and everything to do with luck. If I had faced Tokoyami instead of you, I would have beaten him. You could easily beat Kacchan you just never had the opportunity." Izuku shakes his head. "It's all luck. Luck and circumstance. It means nothing."

Hitoshi doesn't know what to say to that. It's… true he guesses.

So instead of responding, he hums and turns back to the arena. Regardless of how broken the system is, this is the final match and he desperately hopes that this Iida kid can put Bakugou in his place.

…

Tenya stares at the arena in front of him, waiting for the baton to drop and the match to start. His head feels heavy. Like he's staring through thick jelly. Everything is far away.

What does this even matter?

He came out here to make his brother proud.

Tensei might not live to be proud of him.

He…

This all seems very pointless, doesn't it?

Bakugou is grinning at him from across the arena with murder in his eyes, but Tenya can't bring himself to care.

The sooner this fight is over, the better.

He has somewhere else he needs to be.

…

 **BestJeanass: okay so I know that this iida kid is p good.**

 **BestJeanass: like. a formidable opponent. He's smart**

 **BestJeanass: or w/e**

 **BestJeanass: WHEN IS HE GONNA GET ON HIS GAM**

 **ProfessionalYike: BITCH I KNOW**

 **ProfessionalYike: WHAT IS HE DOING?**

 **Small_Might: I'm not sure? He looks lost**

 **Small_Might: he didn't look like that when I fought him**

 **Mindfuck: is it just bakubitch?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I don't think so. Iida's never been flustered by fighting Bakugou before**

 **CrimmsonRiott: he doesn't look too good tbh**

 **BestJeanass: in any case this is a pretty sad finale**

 **ProfessionalYike: IT'S OVER ALREADY?**

 **ProfessionalYike: THEY DIDN'T EVEN FIGHT**

 **Small_Might: guys I'm sorry. If I'd been a little more composed I could have made it inot he finals and beaten Kacchan myself**

 **Mindfuck: don't blame yourself, the bracket system is broken**

 **Mindfuck: remember?**

 **Small_Might: :/**

…

The world is swimming around him. Has been for a while.

He's got to get out of here.

He can't hear the stream of profanity spilling from Bakugou's mouth. There's some faint noise and clearly he's very upset but Tenya can't bring himself to care.

This doesn't matter.

He's got to go.

He nods politely and walks away.

Something explodes behind him (probably Bakugou) but that isn't important.

Nothing is important right now.

He has to…

He has to get to the hospital.

…

Iida isn't on the podium.

Izuku stands next to Tokoyami in third place, Kacchan is chained and muzzled on the center podium, but there is no one to his right. it's empty.

He throws a quizzical glance at Tokoyami, but he shrugs. "I haven't seen him since his match with Bakugou."

Izuku hums, and glances up to where Kacchan pulls and screams against his restraints. It's definitely cruel. Humiliating even.

He's not sure if he feels bad. He probably should feel bad. There's some part of him that's cringing, though he's not sure for whose sake.

The sad part is, if he had faced Kacchan in the finals this wouldn't have happened.

As much as he wants to be first all the time, Izuku knows that Kacchan would have bowed his head and taken second.

It's an odd thought, definitely an egotistical one, but it's true. (He kind of hates that it's true.)

.

All Might personally delivers their medals. Which is… well it's very flattering. It would be nicer if he didn't have to keep a straight face. Especially because he can tell that All Might tripped over his greeting (almost called him Izuku instead of "Young Midoriya"). He caught himself of course, Tokoyami probably didn't notice, but that's still one more tick mark in the 'Yagi is All Might' conspiracy. Awfully convenient is what it is.

The crowd around them is cheering. It's mostly made up of pro heroes who have come to scout out the new kids. Izuku wonders if he made an impact.

He certainly hopes so.

He searches the crowd for his mother (she's too far for him to see, but he needs something to distract himself from the fact that Kacchan has broken through his muzzle and is yelling profanities about not "really" winning and how he's refusing to take the medal when he didn't earn it).

Really, it's a commendable attitude.

If Izuku wasn't so fed up with Kacchan as a whole, he would almost be pleasantly surprised that a fifteen-year-old boy was refusing to accept first place because he doesn't feel like he earned it.

As it is though, Kacchan is yelling and the person he 'didn't rightfully beat' didn't even show up for the medal ceremony and Izuku knows well enough that that's got to hurt. On top of everything else he almost feels bad for the kid.

Almost.

Not quite.

…

"Izuku!"

He swings around, the bronze medal heavy around his neck to see Mom running toward him, arms outstretched and tears in her eyes. "Mom!"

He's in her arms within seconds.

"Izuku! Baby you did so good I'm so proud but I was so worried, I'm going to go grey from this you know." She pulls back to hold him at arm's length. "Look at you. Third. Third! I knew you could do it." She wipes the tears from her eyes. "Izuku I'm so proud of you."

He's cried a lot today. Thankfully these are happy tears (mostly). "Thanks mom, I'm—I'm glad you're proud of me." The tears are coming harder now. couldn't this have waited until they got home?

Thankfully, Mom notices. "Izuku? Sweetie are you okay?"

The words are choking in his throat and the most he can do is shake his head. No, no he really isn't.

"Oh dear." Mom pulls him back in for a tight hug. "You did great today, darling. Go grab your stuff real quick and we'll go home and have some tea."

She lets go of him and Izuku wipes his tears away, nodding.

Mom smiles. "I really am proud of you."

Izuku tries to smile but it comes out as some kind of half-choked sob. "Thanks."

"Now go so we can get you home."

Izuku really does love his mother.

.

He has mostly composed himself once he reaches his classroom. It's empty (thankfully) and he takes a quick moment to shoot Toshi and Ei a message.

 **Small_Might: I found my mom so I'm just headed home**

 **Small_Might: it's been a long day**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ight m8 sounds good.**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you did great! See you Monday?**

 **Small_Might: yeah**

He breathes out heavily and grabs his bag. Monday is way too soon and he's already not ready to have to function again.

Functioning is overrated.

Curling up under a mountain of blankets is a much preferable option he'll take that, thanks.

An all-too-familiar voice stops him in his tracks.

That's Endeavor.

Oh fuck him.

That being said, Izuku isn't terribly keen on running into the guy again, especially considering their last interaction. He would like to keep his head on his shoulders, please and thank you.

Izuku ducks around a corner and watches the hallway, praying Endeavor will pass quickly and not see him.

"Shouto I'm just ashamed. How dare you come here and insult my name like this."

"I know."

Todoroki looks downright pitiful. Head hung and passive fear in his voice. He looks defeated.

"I'm going to have to come up with something. Something! You were taken advantage of by that disgrace of a boy—he isn't even one of your classmates! I didn't raise you to be like this!" Endeavor is fuming (literally, heh).

"I know. I'm sorry." He sounds so defeated.

Izuku can't stand here and watch this with any kind of conscience. He can't.

He really wants to jump out and drop kick Endeavor out the nearest window but that's not exactly a feasible option.

So hey. Next best thing.

He pulls on his quirk. Nothing much, just a little bit towards his outstretched hand. The two small flames zip toward him and he balances them between his fingers, a mischievous smile growing on his face.

Endeavor is on some kind of tirade, hopefully Izuku can get Todoroki's attention without his father noticing.

"Hey, icyhot!" he whispers. Shouto looks up, eyes wide and flitting around until they land on where Izuku stands, hiding in the shadows.

Izuku really can't keep the grin off his face as he gestures toward Endeavor and to the flame Hero's moustache, which is currently balancing patiently in Izuku's gloved hand.

Todoroki claps a hand over his mouth in some kind of effort to quell the laugh that bubbled out of his throat.

"What was that?" Endeavor spins around and Todoroki turns the laugh into some kind of cough.

"Something in my throat. It's nothing, father."

"It better not be."

"Of course not, father."

Shouto throws a glance over his shoulder at Izuku, with almost a smile quirked on his lips.


	14. The One where we Google Nana

(A/N) hello folks long time no see amiright? i had some irl problems but they should be sorted now and hopefully i'll have more time to write. anyway, enjoy!

* * *

" _And you're sure you're going to be okay?"_

Izuku sighs. "Yeah, I think I'll be fine. Maybe? I don't know. It's late and I'm tired and you know that always makes all of the feelings a little jumbled."

" _Mmhmm."_

"I'm going to sleep on it."

" _That's probably a good plan."_ Chie yawns. " _You've had a long day, but still, digging up trauma is never an excellent thing, and you know I'm not going to think worse of you if it takes a little while before you're 'better.'"_

Izuku hums.

" _I hope you could tell I was making air quotes there. We both know that better is a fake concept. You're fine just the way you are, it just might take some time before you feel better. Or functional. Or whatever words there are."_

Izuku hums again. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

" _Anytime, buddy. If you need me, I'm always here, okay?"_

"I know."

" _I should come down and visit you. For a weekend or something. I need to hug you are you are way too far away to hug, this is a disgrace."_

Izuku laughs. "Distance is homophobic."

" _Exactly! I'm gay and I want to hug my friend!"_ There's a shuffling sound on the other end of the line, like Chie is moving the phone to her other ear. _"Really though. Your dad can't hurt you, he can't hurt your mom, if he ever shows his slimy little face again I'm going to kick his ass into next week, got it?"_

"Got it." the pain is still there and the lights in his room aren't keeping the darkness perfectly at bay, but talking to Chie always makes it feel a little less real.

" _Okay Izuku, you should get some rest. And sleep all day tomorrow too, it's Sunday and if you had any obligations I am cancelling all of them."_

"Yeah, yeah, I will. Thanks again Chie, I appreciate it."

" _Aw, you sap. It's really no problem. Somebody's got to look after you, because you clearly won't."_

"You've got me there."

" _Damn straight I do."_

Izuku laughs again. "Okay I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight Chie."

" _Goodnight loser. Sleep well, I love you."_

"I love you too."

" _Oh, and Izuku?"_

"hmm?"

" _I really am proud of you. You did great today."_

"Thanks."

" _Anytime."_ Chie yawns again. _"For real though you've kept me up way too late. A girl needs her beauty sleep, don't you know?"_

"Like you need it."

" _Izuku, baby, you flatter me."_

"Thanks, I try. Good night Chie."

" _Night."_

The line clicks and then hums against his ear. He lets his phone fall back to the bed as he stares up at the ceiling.

It really is late. One? Two in the morning?

Maybe not that late by his typical standards, but it's been a really long day and he should probably be asleep. He'd fallen asleep on the couch as soon as he and Mom had gotten back home. She woke him up a couple hours later for dinner, and, well. He hasn't exactly had great luck getting back to sleep.

Even Toshi was asleep by ten, which has got to be a record for him.

It's not really his fault that all of his guilt and all of his fear and all of his he-doesn't-even-know-what is swirling around in his throat and won't let him sleep. Maybe it is his fault that he let himself dig it all back up? It's hard to say.

The darkness had become too much a couple hours ago, and now every single light in his room is on. He's not sure if it's helping or not.

He has counted the number of glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling five times now, and he's also discovered that two of them are unevenly spaced in comparison to the rest of them and he can't stop staring at those two stars and that Really isn't helping whatever it is that's he's feeling because he would have to go get the stepladder in order to fix it and it is in the closet in Mom's room and he can't go in there because it would wake her up and he really shouldn't do that because then she would worry and he doesn't want her to worry and—

Yeah okay he has had enough.

It has been a while since he's had insomnia this bad but he knows how to beat it.

He groans as he pushes himself to his feet, dragging the duvet behind him and draping it around his shoulders as he shuffles to the computer and boots it up. He collapses into the chair and shakes the mouse a few times as the computer lights up.

The only way (that he has found) to beat anxiety-induced insomnia is to be productive. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to trick his brain into thinking he has been productive, so even if he can't work on the One Problem that's actually stressing him out, he can get something done and then his brain will typically calm down enough to let him sleep.

Typically.

Doesn't always work perfectly, but the odds are good enough that it's always worth trying. And hey, even if it doesn't work, he was going to be awake anyway he might as well make use of the time.

Win-win.

He pulls up an internet tab and the password protected document on his computer fondly named 'sticky notes on a pin board.'

After Kuma asked if Nana couldn't be a part of the All Might conspiracy, Izuku realized that there were probably a lot more moving pieces to this puzzle than he thought. So he'd stayed up late one night compiling everything he knew into one document/picture/whatever you want to call it, complete with little squares of text, pictures, news article screenshots, and red lines connecting the important timeline bits.

Like a digital conspiracy theory board. He's quite proud of it, actually. It's very aesthetically pleasing.

In any case, it certainly helped him to organize his thoughts. He glances over it quickly. The biggest hole in the theory is that Yagi was (is?) still registered as quirkless. There is very little doubt in Izuku's mind that he and All Might are the same person, but that little bit of doubt is holding on very tightly to this one point and yelling that there's no way he could have been registered as quirkless with a quirk like _that._

Kuma is convinced that Nana is an important piece in the puzzle, but the way Izuku has it drawn up now, it still doesn't make a lot of sense for her to be. He sighs and drums his fingers against his chin. What does he know about her?

She died young. She had a strength-enhancing quirk. She took Yagi under her wing when he was 16 or so, two years before she died. Kuma says that they couldn't find how she died. He knows that Mom met Nana when she was very young, not long before Nana died (Mom had gotten lost somewhere and Nana stayed with her until they could find her parents. Mom always says that Nana was one of the sweetest people she'd ever met. That a lot of heroes were so caught up in their public image that they end up being very rude to people who catch them off guard. "But not Nana!" she held Mom and let her play with the decorative band she kept in her hair (Mom still has it) and stopped everything she was doing to help her).

He sighs and flips over to the search bar. If he fills in some of the holes in Nana's story it will, at the very least, eliminate some of the theories as to Yagi's quirklessness.

 _Shimura Nana_

Quite a few results pull up. He recognizes some of them, she is his mom's hero after all—she was one of his first entries in his hero analysis notebooks.

Speaking of, it would probably be easier to look through that entry again. Figure out what holes he's really looking for instead of starting from scratch.

He pushes his chair away from his desk and rolls over to his closet, where the box of hero analysis notebooks is. What book is it in? one? Two maybe? He grabs them both and leafs through them.

One it is.

Yikes, how old was he when he did this? Yeah yeah he touched them up again when he was 12 and could get into the quirk registry, but still, the quality is… subpar.

Maybe it's time for another read through and touch-up?

He shakes his head. Focus. That's important.

He opens the book to Nana's pages and begins reading them as he uses the tips of his toes to push the chair back to his desk.

Let's see… birth and death dates, name, hero name…

Her quirk is a question mark with strength enhancing next to it.

Huh.

That's in different handwriting, clearly from when he went back through after he could get everyone's official, government-recorded quirks.

He typically tries to get through things the legal way first, but screw that. He pulls up the quirk registry and searches Nana's name. She's grinning in her profile picture. His heart pinches a little. He would have liked to know her, he thinks.

Okay okay _focus._ Goddamn it's too late for this.

Name, hero name, date of birth, date of death…

 **Quirk:** _ **unlisted**_

What.

Izuku stares at that word for a while. Is that even possible? Everyone has to record their quirks, right? It's a whole legal process, you can't just opt out of it. There are medical records and they go on file in the government when you're really young and as far as Izuku is aware, you can't exactly opt out of that.

 _How to remove my quirk from the registry_

It's worth a search. Just to see if it's possible.

He scrolls through the results, clinking on one that might be promising.

 _Q: can I remove things from the quirk registry? It's about me, right so I should be able to do that._

 _A (most liked by users): for public safety reasons, you cannot remove things from the registry. Some things will be removed automatically (fingerprints, if your record is clean for long enough), and there are certain things that you can ask to be removed for personal safety reasons, but you yourself cannot remove them. And if you ask for something to be taken down you have to provide evidence supporting why they should remove it. So unless you have a really good case or you have friends in the system who are willing to pull an illegal move for you, no you cannot remove your quirk from the registry._

That's. Helpful? So either Nana had a very good case for why her quirk got taken down, or she deleted it illegally. Fascinating. He wishes he had a mug of tea to sip right now just for the aesthetic.

Intriguing, possibly illegal, research requires something to sip on and raise your eyebrows at.

Okay so her quirk is unlisted. Might as well start there.

 _Heroes with unlisted quirks._

It's worth a shot. So far the only two heroes he knows who don't have their quirks on record are All Might and Nana (which is definitely suspicious, now that he thinks about it). Shockingly, about four results down, there is actually a _list._ It's clearly old and hasn't been updated in a while and on one of those weird webpages that just makes the information look sketchier than it should, but hey, it's a starting place.

It isn't a very long list.

"All Might" and "Shimura Nana (Nana)" are at the top, followed by a handful of others. There are ten or eleven total. Izuku pulls up the quirk registry and searches each name. 5 of the names have [retroactive] at the top, meaning the people lived before the time of the quirk registry and their entries were made after they died. These ones made sense, people didn't always name their quirks in the beginning, so it was easy for some of them to fly under the radar. Four of them were interesting though.

Four of the names did have quirks on file, and they looked pretty normal. A water quirk, a psychological quirk, quirkless, and a self-healing type. Which would have been strange it the original list didn't have these four names starred.

Izuku turned back to the page with the list and scrolled down to the starred note.

 _*quirks listen on file are either incomplete or incorrect._

It's a weird note to make, so Izuku pulls up another tab and searches each of the names (and their hero names, if he had them) both alone and with _quirk._ The first results herald back to the quirk registry and reconfirm that it was right.

Further down though, he stumbles across some old articles in what can only be wacky conspiracy magazines about each one of the four of them. Every article claims that each person was being dodgy about their quirk, or that they had more than one quirk, or that they hadn't told the full truth to the public about their quirk.

Each person had some kind of strength enhancer quirk in addition to their original quirk.

Or, it looked like that.

" _If Aquatis really only had a water-manipulation quirk, there is no way she would have been able to hold up that building. Every news source is claiming that she used the water in the air and the structure in order to suspend it above her head like that, but we all saw the pictures! She was holding it with her hands and clearly bending under the weight. If she was just using the "water in the air" there is no way she would have tried to also hold it with her hands. Clearly she's stronger than she's telling us. A normal person would never be able to do that."_

So. They've got him there. A water quirk shouldn't be able to do that. But why be dodgy about having a strength enhancer quirk? In addition to the water quirk—oh.

Oh. That's weird.

He didn't think it was possible for someone to have two quirks.

(With the exception of the one quirkless person, who only had the one. The tabloids there were yelling about them Clearly having a quirk and why would they try to hide it and keep saying they were quirkless? They obviously were not).

Yeah he was supposed to be researching Nana and this probably has nothing to do with the All Might conspiracy but it's three in the morning and he has just gotten started.

And besides, everyone here is hiding strength-enhancer quirks, so it might be connected. Probably not, but he's going to tell himself that so he can keep looking this stuff up.

They're all dated. All four of the ones that lived post-quirk registry that is. The four of them that he's researching. What does he even want to call them.

One is older than the next is older than the next is older than the—that's actually a little fishy.

Hold on.

He adds a new section to the digital pinboard and writes down the birth-death days of each of the four of them. And then he adds Nana and All Might to the list.

And then he sits back, puts his face in his hands, and lets out a slow, drawn-out whine.

One hero per generation has an unnamed strength-enhancing quirk.

It could be a coincidence! It has to be a coincidence.

He pulls back up to the computer and searches _Aquatis death._

The first result is a news article. He clicks on it.

 _The country mourns the death of the Pro Hero Aquatis, who died at 58 from battle-related injuries. She was found late last night by a fellow hero who was patrolling the area._

"… _Something stumbled out of the shadows and ran into me and it was her. I asked what had happened but she was bleeding from just about everywhere and couldn't really answer me. I radioed for help and tried to stop what bleeding I could. She kept saying that she wasn't safe and that 'he' was coming for her and she had to get out of here."_

 _Aquatis fell unconscious before the ambulance arrived, and died early the next morning. Though search parties were sent out in the area to determine the cause of her death, and who 'he' was that she was so scared of, nothing was found. Following the blood trail to the battle site also proved futile. Law Enforcement are still searching for an answer._

 _Rising hero Nana, who was often seen with Aquatis in the years before her death, leaves us with this statement:_

" _We lost a wonderful hero and an even better woman. I know that hero work tends to take us early, but it still feels like too soon. We will have to carry her legacy on our shoulders now—it shouldn't be hard. She always said the best superpower was a smile. Nothing can beat you when you smile in the face of your fears. That's what she always told me, and that's what I'm going to do. It's the least I can do to honor her."_

Hmm. So. She knew Nana, then, did she? Knew her for a few years before dying under mysterious circumstances. That is awfully suspicious.

He searches the next names on the list.

 _Cause of death: unknown._

 _Cause of death: injuries from an unknown source_

 _Cause of death: missing, body never recovered._

He steeples his hands under his chin and adds these things to the pin board.

 _Shimura Nana death._

Gotta see if her death fits the pattern.

He skims a few news articles and theory boards. There are more of them for her, probably because she died more recently? A lot of them are contradictory.

The official news stories cite her cause of death as either "unknown" or "battle related injuries."

She was found dead though. Everyone agrees on that.

She was found dead in an alley with no signs of the struggle around her.

Forensics, according to some articles, claim the ultimate cause of death was asphyxiation. She choked to death on her own blood.

Some conspiracy articles claim quotes from forensics saying that there was no way she could have acquired injuries of that sort in the area she was found. _"there wasn't enough blood." "no property damage." "no signs of a struggle except on her body." "she was planted there."_

There were a few small investigations but they were all inconclusive. Nothing could find who killed her, or even where a fight of that magnitude could have taken place.

He glances at the clock. Not quite 4 am. He should probably sleep.

Or try to.

Or he could try and connect the dots because he feels like he is so close.

 _So close._

He isn't sure what he is so close to, but he can feel it. He just has to connect the dots…

So he tries to do it literally. Grabs a red timeline pin and drags it between each of the four new names in chronological order. And then from Aquatis to Nana and from Nana to All-Might.

He hums. The red lines are always so satisfying. He has one tracking Toshi's life (it intersects with the articles on Nana's death). He has one tracking All Might's injury. And now he has one that follows this weird strength-enhancing quirk—wait.

What if that's it?

What if it's _one_ quirk? Each of their lifespans overlap. He knows that at least the last three knew each other. Older records are fuzzier so it's hard to say, but the others could have known each other too. They could have passed the quirk on before they died.

But that's impossible, isn't it?

He looks at the timeline of young Yagi's life. Orphaned at seven. In foster care until 16 when Shimura Nana more or less adopted him. He makes it into Yuuei. She dies. He graduates. He "dies" and then debuts as the hero All Might who has a strength enhancing quirk…

He made it into Yuuei after he met Nana. This was before Yuuei changed its policy to allow entry to quirkless students. So he had to have a quirk to pass the entrance exam.

It doesn't really make sense. Quirks don't work like that. They can't… be passed on. They're innate. Part of someone's genetic makeup.

But there's not really another way to explain this, is there?

 **Small_Might: hey guys, do you think quirks can be passed on?**

 **Small_Might: not like genetically from parent to kid, but like. could someone give their quirk to someone else.**

 **Small_Might: do you think that is possible?**

It's 4:23 in the morning so he knows he isn't going to get a reply right now, but it's worth throwing out there. Get some more heads in on this problem.

He leaves all the lights on but climbs back into bed.

Maybe if he looks at this again when he wakes up he'll find a solution that makes more sense. It's probably just his sleep-deprived brain that's drawing all these nonsensical conclusions.

Yeah. If he looks at this in the morning it'll be different.

…

It's not different.

There is still one hero per generation with an unlisted strength-enhancing quirk. Though nothing on the scale of what All Might has right now. The quirkless hero (god, what Izuku would give for that to be a social norm now. A quirkless hero? In _this_ economy?) was even able to pass the quirk off as simply their own strength. Clearly it was believable enough that they were publicly listed as quirkless, but not subtle enough that it was almost universally believed that they were hiding something.

Izuku sighs. If only it were easier to find records of these older heroes. He could always go dig through the archives in the library—not all newspaper articles are digitized and there might be more photos there, but that's just so much _work._

He has stared at this red line connecting these heroes for far too long. He's probably making unreasonable jumps in logic.

It's what, one in the afternoon now? (yeah he slept in late, sue him). He probably has some kind of reply in the group chat. Maybe a couple more eyes on this problem would make him see straight.

He grabs his phone and heads out to the kitchen, his stomach growling angrily.

Mom is in the living room and her eyes light up when she sees him.

"Izuku! I was worried you were never going to get up."

He laughs. "Me too, honestly," he says, grabbing a box of cereal out of the cupboard.

"Trouble sleeping?"

Mom's voice is much closer to him now. Something wells in his throat and he braces himself against the counter. "Yeah, a bit."

"Was it because of…?" Mom trails off, but Izuku knows exactly who she means.

He nods, and suddenly Mom's arms are around him. He twists in her embrace and buries his face in her shoulder. He can't even bring himself to cry about it, he's just shaking and he hates it. He hates this.

Mom is rubbing circles on his back. "It's okay sweetheart. It's okay for it to hurt, and you're safe now."

He nods against her shoulder. "I know, I just wish it didn't."

"Me too, sweetheart." Mom sighs. She gently pushes him off of her shoulder, and holds him at arm's length. "Look at me. You did really well yesterday. And I'm not just talking about the medal you brought home, though I am proud of that as well. You saw someone who needed your help and you did everything you could to help him. Izuku, I am so proud to have raised a son like you. Hisashi…" she shakes her head. "He doesn't deserve your thoughts. He doesn't deserve to call you his son, he doesn't—"

"He doesn't deserve anything."

"Exactly!"

Izuku is smiling. Mom has said that before—that Dad doesn't deserve anything from them. It's a comforting statement, even if the scars on his arms still burn and his mind is still swimming.

"I love you, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything, alright?"

"I will Mom. I love you too."

"Now eat your cereal before it gets soggy."

Izuku laughs. "Okay, Mom. If you insist."

She goes back to the couch and picks up her needlework (keeps her hands busy, she says. They both have different ways to deal with it) while Izuku takes a seat at the bar and pulls out his phone.

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku so help me**

 **ProfessionalYike: this is time stamped at what? 4:23 am?**

 **ProfessionalYike: what the fuck**

 **ProfessionalYike: were you thinking**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ? I don't think so?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ive never heard of quriks being passed on**

 **CrimmsonRiott: expcept like. genetics**

 **ProfessionalYike: me either**

 **ProfessionalYike: Izuku u better wake up and tell us that this was just your sleep-deprived mind talking**

 **ProfessionalYike: so help me if you found another conspiracy**

 **ProfessionalYike: this is too far**

 **BestJeanass: okay but what if**

 **BestJeanass: *theoretically***

 **BestJeanass: someone had a quirk that was literally just "this quirk can be passed from person to person"**

 **BestJeanass: it would be totally useless but it's not impossible**

 **ProfessionalYike: what**

 **BestJeanass: Ei can turn into a rock and I am part bear**

 **BestJeanass: nothing is impossible, chie**

 **ProfessionalYike: ookay first of all fuck u**

 **ProfessionalYike: second of all fuck this**

 **ProfessionalYike: I got two weeks into quirk theory in middle school and noped my way right out of there I am not a fan of "science"**

 **BestJeanass: I am in a med program right now**

 **BestJeanass: I am a science**

 **BestJeanass: kneel before me peasant**

 **CrimmsonRiott: im gonna wait for deku before I take sides**

 **BestJeanass: valid**

 **Mindfuck: I think I need context before I can say anything, but I'm leaning to the side of "it doesn't make sense." Quirks are genetic mutations, and b/c individuals cannot pass genetic material on to anything other than their kids then no, I don't think quirks can be passed "sideways"**

 **BestJeanass: w AIT**

 **BestJeanass: HORIZONTAL GENE TRANSFER**

 **Mindfuck: fuk**

 **CrimmsonRiott: guys I failed biology what are you sayinggg**

 **BestJeanass: basically there are some things (viruses mostly) that can pass their DNA from one living organism to another one. Just by sticking genes in the other organisms DNA sequence. Obviously it doesn't typically work with multicellular organisms b/c the extra gene would typically just create a tumor in whatever area and bam u have cancer but idk quirks are weird**

 **ProfessionalYike: kuma I hate u and your science**

 **Mindfuck: hey kuma one question**

 **Mindfuck: what the fuck are you studying again? How the fuck do u know this**

 **BestJeanass: I want to be a pediatrician! Doctor for kids and what not. I'm actually applying for an internship right now and I'll get to shadow a doctor around a hospital for a few days a week and get a feel for the ropes I'm really excited :D**

 **ProfessionalYike:**

 **BestJeanass: we are literally all nerds here**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I'M STILL WAITING FOR IZUKU BEFORE I PICK SIDES**

Ironically enough, that was actually the last message sent. Izuku sighs. Kuma made a really good point with the whole "horizontal genetics" thing.

 **Small_Might: hey guys**

 **BestJeanass: he lives!**

 **Small_Might: you could say that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: okay so what's with the cryptic messages last night**

 **Small_Might: uhhhh I might have accidentally found something**

 **ProfessionalYike: oh no**

 **Small_Might: [image]**

He sends a screenshot of his digital sticky note conspiracy board. Typing is long and it has all the information typed up and even connected with fun little lines. The problem is that there is a lot of information and now he's stuck waiting for someone (anyone) to reply. Tell him he's crazy. That he's seeing things that aren't there. Correlation isn't causation. He taps the side of his phone and bounces his leg in time with the nervous pace of his heart.

 **Mindfuck: well kudos to you with the design here.**

 **Mindfuck: it definitely doesn't make you look like a crazy person.**

 **ProfessionalYike: ok I gotta say**

 **ProfessionalYike: first- I hate this**

 **ProfessionalYike: second- fuck you Izuku i honestly can't think of any other explanation other than "they passed the quirk on."**

 **BestJeanass: I don't want to say that I told you so**

 **BestJeanass: but I TOLD YOU NANA WAS IMPORTANT**

 **Small_Might: yea yea nana was important, you called it.**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ok ok ok wait**

 **CrimmsonRiott: this Aquatis person had two quirks then, ya? That's kinda what ths whole thing is saying**

 **CrimmsonRiott: but what if she just had two quirks like Todoroki has two quirks?**

 **Small_Might: i thought about that**

 **Small_Might: but todoroki's two quirks are clearly genetic, kinda like my "two quirks"**

 **Small_Might: in the end its just one quirk**

 **Small_Might: both of Aquatis' parents had water quirks**

 **CrimmsonRiott: damn**

 **Small_Might: and she was just registered with a water quirk**

 **ProfessionalYike: damn**

 **Mindfuck: damn**

 **BestJeanass: wwell fuck me sideways deku**

 **BestJeanass: if nothing else, this explains why Yagi is listed as quirkless**

 **Mindfuck: tru**

 **Mindfuck: does that mean tho that quirks can be passed horizontally?**

 **Mindfuck: like if I got some of your dna I could take your quirk**

 **BestJeanass: I don't think anybody has ever tried?**

 **BestJeanass: huh**

 **Small_Might: three of us go to the same school we could always experiment with that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: deku I love you but I didn't think we'd become blood brothers over some conspiracy**

 **BestJeanass: oh please don't drink each other's blood thats rly unsanitary**

 **Small_Might: ya ya we won't do that.**

 **Mindfuck: we got club tomorrow still ya? We could always try then**

 **Small_Might: it's a deal**

 **Small_Might: I want your quirk so bad that would be lit**

 **Mindfuck: nevermind this is a bad idea**

Izuku snorts.

"Everything okay sweetie?"

"Yeah, I'm just talking to some friends."

"That's good. I'm glad you're making friends. They're always welcome here, you know that."

"mmhmm."

…

"Hey, you go to Yuuei, right?"

Izuku looks up from his phone (browsing the news, it's a habit) to the person sitting next to him on the train. "Yeah?"

The guy's face lights up. "Oh I knew I recognized you! You're the General Studies kid who got third!"

"Y-yeah."

"Congrats kid, I was blown away! I was really rooting for you to take it all!"

Izuku feels himself blush. "Thanks."

Their conversation has drawn the attention of the people around them.

"Yeah! You did great!" someone says.

"It's been a long time since someone from general studies placed, you've got real talent."

"What's your quirk again?"

"They should transfer you to heroics, it's a waste to keep you out."

Izuku feels the intense desire to melt into a puddle and run between the cracks of the floor. "Thanks guys…"

…

"So." Toshi is waiting for him by the lockers again. "How many people recognized you on the way here?"

Izuku throws open his locker and grabs his school shoes, groaning all the while. "Everyone on the train."

Toshi snorts. "That's what you get for placing third."

Izuku throws a sideways look at him. "And how many people recognized you?"

Toshi grimaces. "Too many. A guy kept asking all these questions about how my quirk worked. I didn't want to tell him anything but I didn't want to be rude. Look at this—you've got me concerned about if I'm being rude. I'm cancelling our friendship."

"You're out of luck buddy, no returns."

"Fuck you."

Izuku laughs. "Love you too."

…

 _ **Hero Killer Stain Strikes Again**_

 _Pro Hero Ingenium was found Saturday afternoon following a run-in with the infamous hero killer. He is reacting well to treatment, though Ingenium will never return to hero work. The Hosu Community mourns the loss of this wonderful hero, while authorities remain alert. Detectives tracking Stain's movements believe he is still somewhere in Hosu._

"Whatcha doing?"

Izuku looks up from his phone at Arai, who had joined him and Toshi for lunch today.

"Uh," Izuku looks between his phone and Toshi, who has his math book out and is running over a few equations with Arai. "Just the news."

"Anything interesting?" Toshi asks, tapping his pencil against his chin before writing something down.

"Hmm. Stain has another victim."

"Hosu still?"

"Yeah."

"That was two there?"

"Yeah."

"Murder or mutilation?"

Izuku skims the rest of the article. "Looks like mutilation. They're not releasing a lot of details but it looks like he intentionally paralyzed Ingenium."

Toshi's nose crinkles. "Why would he attack Ingenium? He seems like a pretty decent guy."

Izuku snorts. "He's the hero killer, Toshi. I'm not sure he takes into consideration if someone is a decent person or not."

Toshi drops his pencil and rubs his eyes with the heels of his hands. "And here I thought you were good at this hero analysis stuff."

Arai's face lights up. "Do I really know more about this than Midoriya does?"

"Forgive me for being preoccupied with other research," Izuku says, shooting a glare at Toshi, who rolls his eyes. "What's up with Stain?"

Arai claps her hands together under her chin. "I know so much about this."

"Really?"

"Oh hush up Midoriya, I want to be a detective of course I'm interested in criminal activity. And a serial killer?" Her eyes sparkle. "It's just so interesting!" She drops her hands to the table. "So. Everyone knows that Stain takes three people out in each city, right? There isn't a strong correlation between location and the murder/mutilation ratio, so that's pretty unpredictable. But! There is a correlation among the victims. It's not a strong correlation which is why I don't know if anyone has picked up on it? or if they have it might be dangerous to publicize it… hmmm…"

"Arai, the point?" Toshi says.

"Oh! Yeah. Anyway. A lot of Stain's victims tend to be kinda on the sleazy side. Like they've been caught taking money from charities, or exploiting celebrity status to get laid or whatever. It's not a super strong correlation because not all of his victims are that bad, I mean, they are heroes after all, but yeah that's why Ingenium seems like a weird victim." Arai says.

Izuku leans back in his chair. "Huh. I need to keep up with the news, I didn't even notice. Toshi, you knew?"

Toshi shrugs. "Arai told me."

"So why Ingenium then? Is there something shady about him that we don't know?" Izuku asks.

"Zuku, you are _literally_ the hero expert here. If he was shady you would know."

Izuku groans. "But as far as I know Ingenium is a great person! He's super open about his personal life and volunteers and honestly the whole Iida family are model citizens—hold on." Izuku scans through the article again. "Holy shit guys I don't know how I didn't put this together but Iida is related to Ingenium."

Arai blinks. "What?"

"Ingenium was found late Saturday afternoon—that's right in the middle of the sports festival! No wonder Iida wasn't there for the medal ceremony."

Toshi hums. "That's too bad."

"I hope he's doing okay," Arai says, "That's got to be hard."

…

Iida is not doing okay. He sat very quietly all through lunch, and he's only responded to Ochako's questions in one-word answers. He even let Bakugou get away with kicking his feet up on his desk.

He looks very far away. Ochako doesn't want to pry, but she does want to help and she doesn't quite know how to.

They're walking back to the classroom after lunch when Todoroki walks up to them. He bows, nothing deeper than a head nod. "My condolences Iida. If there's anything I can do to help—"

"Nothing right now, thank you Todoroki." It's the most Iida has said all day, but if Todoroki is offering condolences then it can't be something small. And if Iida isn't going to tell her, then…

"What happened?" she hisses, grabbing Todoroki's arm before he can walk into the classroom behind Iida.

Todoroki blinks at her, his face blank.

"What happened with Iida? He won't tell me anything."

"Ingenium was paralyzed by the Hero Killer. It's all over the news." Todoroki says.

Ochako lets go of his arm. "Oh…" she says. "That's… oh."

"Class is starting soon, I suggest we go in."

"Right." Ochako nods. There's a pit in her stomach now—she can't imagine how Iida is feeling. If she wasn't living in a studio apartment with no furniture and even less food, she would invite him over or something. She doesn't want him to be alone right now. Iida is too good a person; he doesn't deserve to be hurting like this.

…

"Midoriya." Midnight calls his name as he and Toshi are leaving the room at the end of the day.

"Go up to the club room without me," he says. "I'll be there in a minute."

Toshi nods. "Don't get into too much trouble."

Izuku grins. "I'll try."

Toshi leaves the room and Izuku walks up to Kayama-sensei's desk. "Yes?"

She leans back in her chair. "You did really well at the sports festival, kiddo. First in the obstacle course, third overall, I'm impressed."

"Thank you sensei."

"I was not the only person who was impressed, however. You caught the eye of some really big players, you know."

Izuku doesn't know how to respond to that, so he doesn't.

Kayama-sensei rocks back up in her chair and rests her elbows on the desk. "Look, it's tradition that after the sports festival, first-year students take a 3-day internship with a pro-hero. If you catch the eye of a pro, they can nominate you for that internship. And you, kiddo, got more nominations than half of the 1-A students and most of the 1-B students."

"What?"

"Don't look so shocked, you put up an impressive fight. Aizawa told me to let you know that you are going to be sitting in on 1-A's 7th period heroics class for this week, and if you do well at the internship and can 'prove yourself' in that week that he'll consider accepting you into class 1-A full time."

"What?"

"You heard me kid. Now get moving, I'm teaching 1-A today so we've both got to get there on time."

"Right, Sensei, thank you."

Midnight snorts. "Don't thank me just yet. Aizawa might very well get you expelled from the school."

"Yes, Sensei."

 _ **[Me]**_

 _Something came up I don't think I'll be to club for an hour_

 _I'll tell you more then_

 _ **[Purple hedgehog]**_

 _K_

Midnight makes a dramatic entrance into 1-A's classroom, not that Izuku was expecting anything less.

"Oh." Aizawa's face is blank as he looks from Midnight back to the rest of the class. "I forgot to mention we'll be having guests today. Midoriya is going to be joining us this week."

"Hell Yeah!" Ei yells from the middle of the classroom.

"You can take the seat behind Bakugou."

Izuku nods and hurries to the far side of the classroom, pointedly ignoring the death stare that Kacchan is giving him. If he can make the least amount of noise possible, this might just end okay. He hasn't sat next to Kacchan in a classroom in a long time.

"Don't you dare try anything, fucking Deku," Kacchan hisses as Izuku slides into his seat.

"As I was saying, I'm going to give you time to look over your internship nominations, and then Midnight is going to help you create your hero names, because frankly, I am not good at that."

Izuku looks to the screen behind Aizawa-sensei. It's a graph? Names vs. the number of nominations.

Looks like Todoroki, Iida, and Bakugou got way more nominations than everyone else.

His own name is high on the list, 4th overall. He scans the rest of it—Uraraka got 10, Ei got 8, and—

His hand shoots up.

Aizawa sighs. "Yes, Midoriya?"

"Uh, Sensei, Shinsou got 7 nominations, is there a reason he isn't here? He did finish in the top 8 and, uh, it seems unfair that I am being given a chance here and not him." He looks to Midnight, hoping she'll support him in some way. She's got a soft spot for Toshi and he knows that.

"The kid's got a point, Aizawa," Midnight says.

Aizawa looks like he would rather melt into the floor than be here. "Fine," he says, picking up a yellow sleeping bag and climbing inside of it. "He gets one week probation. If I don't like him I can expel him." he zips the bag up under his chin. "Midnight you've got the classroom." He shuffles to the corner of the classroom and lays down.

Honestly, Izuku is appalled. Amused, but appalled. Turns out Aizawa really would rather melt into the floor than be here.

"Midoriya." Kayama-sensei says.

"Yes!" he squeaks.

"Is Shinsou still on school property?"

"Yes, sensei."

"Tell him to get his ass in here or we're starting without him."

"Yes sensei."

 _ **[Me]**_

 _Get to 1-A asap_

 _ **[Purple hedgehog]**_

 _What_

 _Why_

 _ **[Me]**_

 _ASAP_

 _THAT MEANS NOW_

 _ **[Purple hedgehog]**_

 _Zuku what did you do_


	15. The One where we Join Heroics

Hitoshi is on the third fucking floor when he gets Zuku's text. The third floor and all the way across the building. "Asap means now" his ass. So fucking help him if this isn't worth his time. Why the fuck is Izuku in 1-A anyway?

(Hitoshi really wants it to be because there *just so happens* to be a couple empty seats in 1-A, but he isn't going to let himself hope)

He's pretty sure he's across the building in record breaking time, and now he's standing outside the 1-A door, staring at it and regretting everything in his life that has brought him to this moment. What is he supposed to do now? _knock_? That's preposterous.

Besides, they're already what, seven minutes into the heroics course he's not about to interrupt them. This was a stupid idea.

 **[Broccoli Boi]**

TOSHI WHERE R U

Hitoshi sighs. Deeply. Here goes nothing.

He knocks on the door.

Why the fuck is knocking on a door so fucking hard.

Who decided.

Kayama-sensei opens the door and Hitoshi prays she can't see his sigh of relief.

"Midoriya told me—"

"Took you long enough, kiddo!" she says, cutting him off. "Get in here, we have work to do. There's a free seat over there."

Hitoshi blinks as he is herded into the classroom. He doesn't take time to look around and just shuffles to the empty seat that is (thankfully) behind Izuku. Izuku spins around to flash him a grin that is definitely more mischievous than not.

Hitoshi is about to ask what the _fuck_ when Kayama-sensei starts talking.

"I've got these dry erase boards for each of you. Write your hero name on it and you'll each present it to the class and we'll give feedback like a good, old fashioned art critique. Except the art will be the name that people know you by for the rest of your lives." She cackles.

"Hey Zuku," Hitoshi hisses, leaning forward so only Izuku can hear him, "what the _fuck_ is going on here?"

"Oh! Hold on." Izuku reaches forward to grab the dry erase boards that Bakugou is passing over his shoulder to him with no small amount of disgust. "Here." Hitoshi grabs the two from him and passes the last one back to ponytail girl sitting behind him. "So. Kayama-sensei told me that hero kids do these internship things after the sports festival and heroes who want to see them will like? request them or something? Anyway, you and I both got nominations for internships even though we're not hero kids so Kayama said that Aizawa said he was willing to have us in his class for a week to see if we'd hold up. And if not he's either going to expel us or we'll just go back to general studies."

"What the fuck."

Zuku shrugs. "Hey, I got us into the heroics course. Are you gonna thank me or not?"

"Oh fuck you."

Zuku smiles. "You're welcome, babe."

"I didn't realize your relationship was, er, like that." Hitoshi looks to his right and of course what's-his-face with the demon quirk is sitting next to him. Of course he's going to comment on it.

Thankfully (maybe?) Izuku is blushing red enough for the both of them. "It's not like that!" he splutters.

Pigeon-guy (what the fuck was his naaaaame) looks confused. As confused as a pigeon can be, he supposes. "But I thought…"

"It's a joke between us." Hitoshi jumps in. Might as well at least try to save them before they ruin their reputations in the first three minutes in heroics. Fuck if he's about to out Izuku to a bunch of people he barely knows.

"Hmm. Very well then. I was pleasantly surprised to see you again so soon."

"Thanks?"

"I am curious to see how the two of you fare in heroics." Pigeon turns away from him and goes back to scrawling things on his dry erase board.

"What the fuuuuck." Hitoshi hisses.

Izuku laughs, because of course he does. "Anyway, since we're doing internships we need to have a hero name to go by while we're in the field, and Kayama-sensei is going to help us pick them."

That makes sense, at least. Hitoshi looks down at his very white and very blank board. "I have no idea. I didn't think I would make it this far."

Izuku snorts. "You've got to have something, at least."

"Do you?"

"Uh…" Izuku looks down at his dry erase board which is also very white, and very blank. "Okay listen. I've thought a lot about this and I have never come up with anything that I could reasonably present to the public."

"Really? I was expecting you to make your debut as All Might Jr. it would go over so well. I'm sure the man himself would be flattered."

"Shut up!" Izuku is flushing an awful shade of red.

Hitoshi can't help but snicker at that. Comedy gold. "Have you seen Yagi yet?"

Izuku shakes his head. "Not since Saturday."

Hitoshi hums. "Are you going to tell him that you know?"

"I probably should." Izuku sighs. "Especially if things go well between him and my mom. I'm just not sure how I approach that topic, you know?"

Hitoshi snorts. "I'm sorry but I can just see your mom 'tsk tsk'ing and calling you sly."

Izuku starts to laugh before being choking on his own breath and launching himself into a coughing fit.

"Oh shit fuck I didn't mean to—Zuku are you alright?"

"DEKU BUDDY. DON'T DIE!" Ei yells over to them. Which was not strictly necessary, there's only one desk separating Ei and Izuku.

Bakugou is strangely quiet, though he's glaring daggers at Izuku.

"I'm fine, I'm fine I just figured it out."

"What?"

Izuku smiles. "Zuku! Yeah it doesn't have a lot to do with my quirk, but my mom gave it to me and not to be overly sentimental or anything but she's the reason I've made it this far, and…" he trails off.

"I think it sounds great."

"Really?"

Hitoshi shrugs. "Yeah. It's kind of perfect."

Izuku beams. "Thanks! Now we just have to figure you out."

"Fuck don't say it like that."

He laughs. "Whatever you say."

"What about Conductor? You could play a lot off of that, music wise."

Hitoshi hums, tapping his marker against his chin. "Maybe?"

"Eraserhead jr is still on the table, you know." Zuku grins.

"Fuck offffff."

"Really though I think it depends on where you want to go with your costume, thematically, you know? There's a lot of good plays you could make."

"Yeah, I know." Hitoshi looks at the small list of hero names he could use. "I think I need more than fifteen minutes to think about this, though."

Izuku nods. "That's fair." He taps his pen against his chin.

"I could always do something like 'the truth revealer' as a homage to All Might."

Izuku snorts. "You would."

"Obviously."

"Director?"

Hitoshi hums. "I like that, actually. Like a movie director?"

Izuku shrugs. "Yeah, and also you literally 'direct' people in what they're going to do."

"That's true. I like it."

…

"Zuku? Doesn't that sound a little villainous?"

Izuku stumbles. It does, doesn't it. He didn't even think—

"I don't think it sounds any more villainous that _Gang Orca_ ," Ei says. "Besides! It's the hero that makes the name, not the name that makes the hero, right?" he beams up to Izuku at the front of the room.

Good fuck, Izuku is so thankful for him.

…

"Oh my _God_ I'm so excited to have you two in heroics!" Ashido squeals, having rushed over to where Izuku and Toshi were sitting as soon as Midnight released them from class.

"Yeah!" Kaminari grins. "If you two are as good as you were in the sports festival, you're gonna give some of us a run for our money."

Izuku laughs nervously. "Maybe. You guys have still had a lot more training than us."

"Six weeks isn't that much time," Ei pipes in. "You'll catch up soon enough. And besides, you both finished in what, the top 8? You're already better than at least half of this class."

"Oh please, I could have taken both of you guys," Sero says.

"Bitch you wish!" Ashido cackles.

Toshi turns to Izuku as he gets up from his desk. "Speaking of training, are we still doing the club?"

"Oh!" fuck, he'd almost forgotten. "Yagi is probably waiting for us, we should go. The extra training isn't going to hurt."

"You didn't tell me about a club!" Ei's eyes are sparkling.

"Oh. Yeah. We uh, started a club where we train. Mostly hand-to-hand stuff, but some quirk training. Because we were in general studies and all."

"And _Yagi-Sensei_ leads it?"

Izuku flushes. "And what about it?"

"Who is Yagi-sensei?" Ashido asks. "What am I missing?"

"He's a retired pro hero," Izuku says before Ei can open his big mouth. "He teaches heroics for the second and third years."

"Oh! That's super cool!" Ashido says. Ei throws some kind of huffy expression at Izuku, who resists the urge to stick his tongue out in response.

"Could we come, or is it a private affair?" Ei says, wiggling his eyebrows.

"I mean, uh…" Izuku throws a glance at Toshi, who shrugs. "Sure, if you want to."

"More people means that maybe I won't get my ass kicked by this bastard today," Toshi says, slinging his backpack over his shoulder and throwing a thumb in Izuku's direction.

"Yeah, you'll get your ass kicked by an entirely different bastard." Izuku laughs. "Hold on a moment." He vaults over his desk and makes no small show of landing near where Todoroki sits in the back of the classroom. "Hi."

Todoroki looks up at him and Izuku can almost see some kind of surprise in the deadpan stare that he gets. Almost. "Hi."

Honestly. That's already more than he was hoping for here. "We do a club on Mondays and Wednesdays if you wanted to come. It's a kind of, uh, self-defense thing? Some basic hand-to-hand and quirk training and what not."

Does he see Todoroki wince? The world will never know. "Thank you for the invitation, but no thank you." Todoroki stands up and pushes past him rather quickly, keeping his head down. That could have gone a lot better than it did. Pity.

"That's fine," Izuku says. Probably too late though.

Toshi throws him a quizzical look and Izuku shrugs, before twisting over more desks to where Uraraka and Iida are cleaning up.

"Hi!" Uraraka beat him to the hello, that's promising at least.

"Hey! We have a club going today if you wanted to join? It's just a little extra quirk training and hand-to-hand stuff."

"Oh! That sounds fantastic!" Uraraka says, standing up. "I was thinking that I need to work on that kind of stuff more since the sports festival." She throws some punches into the air in front of her.

"Great!" Izuku is grinning. "Iida?"

"I'm going to have to pass." He doesn't look up.

Uraraka frowns. "Are you sure? It might be good—"

Iida stands up abruptly. "Family matters. I really can't." he leaves just as quickly.

"—for you…" Uraraka sighs. "I was hoping that maybe we could do something to get his mind off it."

Izuku hums. "His brother was paralyzed by the hero killer. I don't think an after-school club is going to fix that."

"No, I know that." Uraraka shakes her head. "It's just that if you spend to long thinking about a thing it tends to fester and get bigger and worse in your mind. And I don't want that to happen to him."

"That is true. We'll figure something out. He's your friend so I'll do whatever I can."

Uraraka sighs. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

…

Yagi is already in the room when they get there. He's in a loose-fitting track suit that is clearly designed after one of All Might's older suits (fucker buys his own merch?) and he looks up when Izuku opens the door.

"Shinsou! Midoriya my boy I was wonder where—oh," Yagi freezes up when he sees Ei and the others file in behind them. His composure is back in a moment. "I didn't know we were expecting company," he says, beaming.

"Yeah, uh, Toshi and I got invited into the heroics class for the week, so we brought some of our friends up here," Izuku says, scratching at the back of his head. "Figured since the sports festival was over and we won it that it wasn't such a bad idea to let other people join our secret club."

"Oh! I have seen you around!" Ashido chirps. "Midoriya was trying to describe you and he made you sound like some kind of closet-dwelling lion man who hadn't eaten in years! And I thought, 'oh goodness I've never seen anyone like that' but I have actually seen you around the school! It's nice to finally meet you." She grins.

Yagi seems taken aback by that, but only barely. "It's nice to meet you too, young Ashido. The rest of you as well. Come in, let's get started."

…

They go over the stance work from the beginning "just to make sure everyone is on the same page. Your distribution of your weight is your most powerful weapon."

"Yagi that doesn't make sense."

"yeah it does, asshole, watch this"

"Hey what the fuck?!"

"If you'd have been standing properly I wouldn't have been able to knock you on your ass!"

"Kids, please."

Most of the hero kids had the basics down already, so they moved on pretty quickly to how to get loose if your opponent has you in a hold like _this._

Izuku has got to admit that it was kind of nice to not have to spar against Toshi again. You know. Variety. Or something. Uraraka is actually a very competent opponent. He definitely should have expected that.

She has also made him float a fair few times, much to everyone's amusement. She apologized profusely for it every time, but honestly? Izuku hasn't had this much fun in far too long.

They're done and Yagi is heading out the door leaving them to clean up when he turns back.

"Young Midoriya,"

Izuku hums in response, not looking up from where he's helping Kaminari roll up a mat.

"Would your mother appreciate flowers? Or would that be too forward?"

Toshi snorts and Ei tries unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle (traitors) as Izuku rapidly blushes a deep red.

"No she would definitely appreciate it, and it wouldn't be too forward unless your uh, relationship isn't Like that," Izuku is turning more red with every word.

Yagi is, somehow, completely unfazed by how awkward this situation is. "Oh dear, have I not been clear enough? I haven't tried to romance someone in so long. I never was good at it to begin with…" Yagi taps his chin with one of his fingers. "Does Inko—ah, Miss Midoriya only think of me as a friend, then?"

Oh Dear Lord Why. Why now. Why this. Heaven help his poor soul. Or at least let him just melt into the ground and avoid this situation entirely. He shakes his head and tries desperately to maintain what little composure he has left. "No it's fine, I promise! She uh, definitely thinks of you as more than a friend. Gardenias and peonies are her favorites, but she'll love whatever you get her I promise." Fuck this whole scene, he has sweat more during this conversation than in the entire hour and a half of training before that.

Yagi nods, but his eyes are far off, like he's contemplating whatever the hell it was that Izuku said. "Thank you Young Midoriya."

As he is turning to leave Ei pipes up (like the little meddling bitch that he is) just loud enough for Yagi to hear. "Deku if you need to stay at my house tonight we got the insulation fixed so you can't hear any creaking from my parents' room."

Everyone in the room bursts into fits of giggles, while Izuku groans and collapses face-first onto the mat. (He swears he saw Yagi's ears turn red as he was walking away, but he can't be sure).

"Fuck you guys. Fuck all of you. I'm coming for your kneecaps." Izuku mumbles.

"Oh my God that was the most awkward thing I have ever seen!" Ei laughs. "He straight up admitted that he's trying to romance your mom that's so good!"

"Wait for real he's dating your mom?" Kaminari yells, grinning from ear to ear.

"Kind of? They met recently and hit it off and she didn't know he taught here and he didn't know we were related and they're not Official yet but I swear he spends more nights at our place than he does his own—"

Somebody whistles while Ei screeches "And he still doubts that she _likes_ him?!"

It's a miracle his organs haven't shut down yet because there is so much Blood in his fucking Face but somehow Izuku manages to blush harder. "No! no I meant like, Evenings! Dinners!"

"Boi's eating out!" Kaminari looks way too proud of himself.

"Noooooooo" Izuku covers his face with his hands and tries not to scream. "Please god no that's my mother I don't need that mental image!"

Toshi, who had previously been in a fit of giggles that was against his traditional there-are-people-around-that-I-don't-trust-so-I-must-be-as-stoic-as-possible act, looks Izuku dead in the eye and— "She just needs that mighty dick."

Eijirou fucking loses it.

"Oh fuck you!" Izuku yells, fighting the grin on his face as he moved to punch Toshi in the arm.

"Jokes aside," Ashido says. "That's fucking adorable. I have never met your mom but oh my _god_ I support whatever this is."

"Ah. Thanks." He doesn't really know how to respond.

Kaminari groans, stretching. "Well this was a lot of fun! Y'all do this every Monday?"

"And Wednesday."

"Would you mind if we came on Wednesday then?" Sero asks.

Izuku looks to Toshi, who shrugs. "Yeah definitely."

"Sweet! See you Wednesday!"

"And tomorrow!" Ei grins. "You guys will be in class with us tomorrow, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, I guess we will." Izuku can't fight the grin on his face. Fuck! They made it into _heroics!_

…

Ei made some excuse about helping Hitoshi and Zuku finish cleaning the club room while Uraraka, Ashido, Kaminari and Sero left for the day.

"So."

"So." Hitoshi looks lazily up at Ei who is standing with his hands clasped under his chin.

"What is, reasonably, the least gross way to get each other's dna." Ei looks like he's thinking really hard about this.

"You could always give me a blowjob." Hitoshi really should uh, watch his mouth, as his dad says. But the shocked and appalled look that Ei gives him is Really worth it.

"Toshi we said the _least_ gross way. No one wants your dick in their mouth," Zuku says from where he is lying flat on his back with one arm thrown over his eyes in very possibly the Most DramatiqueTM way possible.

"That's not what you were saying last night~" Hitoshi should really keep his mouth shut.

"Guys! I didn't need to know this!" Ei looks flustered. Hitoshi almost feels bad.

"Go fuck yourself, Toshi," Zuku says.

"But babe, you do it so much better."

"Guys!" Ei's face is almost as red as his hair.

Zuku laughs. "Sorry sorry," he says, sitting up. "We really aren't together. If we were I think you would be the first to know."

Ei huffs. "I was _going_ to say. I'm the gay one, at the very least I should have a boyfriend before you do."

"Don't be fucking rude," Hitoshi says. "You're not the only gay one in the room."

Ei nods. "Right. You're absolutely right, Toshi. I totally support your right to have a boyfriend, but for your own sanity please don't date Deku, he's a mess."

"Excuse you."

"Sorry Deku, buddy, I love you but you know I'm right."

Zuku pouts and crosses his arms.

"Back to the topic at hand, now that blow jobs and ass fucking are out of the question," Hitoshi says.

"Who said ass fucking is out of the question?"

"I said." Zuku says. "No ass fucking."

It's Ei's turn to pout.

"I don't think it would be a good enough DNA transfer anyway," Hitoshi says. "Is there any sanitary way to do this?"

Zuku sighs. "Not that I can think of. Any time you come into contact with anyone else's body fluids or germs it's gonna be dangerous."

"We took cheek swabs when I was in primary school and blended them up with some other stuff to isolate the DNA," Ei says. "That's probably cleaner than blood and way less gross than skin."

Zuku hums. "Yeah, that could work. It's just a little weird to scrape the inside of your mouth with a popsicle stick and hand it to someone else to eat."

Hitoshi snorts. "This whole thing is weird, Zuku."

"Fair."

"So, cheek swabs? Hair? Toenails? What are we doing, fellas."

Zuku drags a hand down his face. "Okay first we need volunteers. Unless we just want to go in a circle. If this works whoever was our test subject is gonna have two quirks."

"Wait a second," Hitoshi says. "If quirk transfers can happen with dna transfer, why don't llike, couples or literally anyone who had made out with anyone else have multiple quirks? You're gonna be eating other people's DNA there and in like, 80 other things."

"Fuck." Zuku curses at the ground.

"Maybe it has something to do with intent?" Ei shrugs. "Quirks are weird."

"In any case we're not going to know until we try it. I say we go in a circle. Everyone has an equal chance of this whole thing working." Hitoshi says.

Zuku nods. "Sounds good to me. I'll take Toshi's, Ei can have mine, and Toshi can have Ei's. How do you guys want to do this?"

"I think the least painful way would probably to just scrape the insides of our mouths with a popsicle stick and then pass it around the circle." Hitoshi shrugs. "It'd be gross, but there's nothing about this whole thing that isn't gross."

"Does anybody actually carry popsicle sticks with them though," Ei says. "I say we just make out with each other."

"Ei, please."

"Listen! I'm young and gay and sexually frustrated let me _live._ " Ei pouts.

Zuku sighs. "I think I have plastic spoons in my bag." He stands up and walks over to where his backpack is leaning up against a wall. "If either of you make this weird I'm to make sure the government knows what you know so you'll be on their hit list too."

"Okay okay Deku we promise we'll be good." Ei says, sitting up straight and beaming in the most childlike way that he can when his mouth is full of knives.

"Ei have you ever kissed anyone?" Hitoshi is surprised to hear the question leave his own mouth.

So is Ei, evidently. "Yeah? Kinda? Why?"

"I was just wondering how you, you know, navigated. With the teeth and all."

Ei laughs nervously. "Oh I uh, don't know yet. Mina kissed me once when we were six I think, but it wasn't anything serious, and I realized I was gay not long after that. So I've never uh, _kissed_ someone. Like, proper, or anything like that."

"No, no it's okay, I was just wondering."

"I think I kissed Kacchan once when we were Really little. Like four or something," Zuku says, passing plastic spoons to the other two. "Or maybe he kissed me, I don't remember. It was something about his mom told him that people kiss each other when they really like each other and we were little so we uh, misinterpreted."

Hitoshi snorts.

"Is it bad that I'm jealous?" Ei pouts before sticking the spoon in his mouth and scraping at his cheeks with it.

Zuku laughs. "Yeah maybe a little."

Ei sighs. "Like, I know he's a shithead. I know that. I've been in class with him for what, six weeks now? I know he's a shithead. But goddamn he's hot."

Zuku hums around the spoon in his mouth. "He can be decent when he wants to be."

Hitoshi scoffs. "Really?"

"Yeah really. I think he's just got…" Zuku takes a moment to contemplate the spoon. "Some kind of complex."

Hitoshi raises an eyebrow.

Zuku sighs. "We all good with the spoons?"

"Ya"

"K let's pass them and not make a big deal about it."

Hitoshi hands his spoon to Zuku and takes the one from Ei. His stomach clenches just a little at the thought, but he shoves it down as hard as he can and just sticks the spoon in his mouth.

Fuck this is so fucking gross why the fuck did he agree to this.

"Zuku you're avoiding the question," he says, taking the spoon out of his mouth and taking a large swig of water.

Zuku and Ei do the same.

"What question?"

Hitoshi fights the urge to roll his eyes (he loses). "About bakubitch. What kind of complex does he have?" he lazily kicks the bottom of Zuku's shoe.

"Oh." Zuku taps the spoon against his chin. "He was really nice when we were little. He sometimes got angry if I tried to help him too much, like the one time he fell into a stream. He has always had the 'I can do it myself' attitude. Which is fine, we're all like that at some point. But then he got his quirk and I didn't have mine yet and he got mean. You've seen his quirk, it's all lights and flare and fire and obviously on the school playground that's gonna be the coolest thing there. And so a lot of kids started kissing the ground he walked on and I think it got to his head. We were still friends though. Some of the bigger kids on the playground would come after me because I didn't have a quirk yet and he stood up for me because once I got my quirk we were gonna be the best hero team the world had ever seen.

"He only got mean to me after the doctor said I probably have an invisible quirk. He got mean because I was useless to him and then he was still mean when my quirk came in because people got mad at him about it and then he got scared and—"

His eyes are glazed over. Like he's far away from this room.

"I think it's my fault. I hurt him and now he won't… he won't let anyone close."

His eyes fall to the ground in front of him.

"Hey, Izuku…" Ei breaks the silence. Hitoshi is glad for it. "Whatever is his problem, it's not your fault. And even if it was. Theoretically. It's still not your responsibility to fix whatever his weird prejudice is."

Izuku looks up. "Thanks."

…

 **BestJeanass: did you guys do it**

 **CrimmsonRiott: what**

 **BestJeanass: become blood brothers**

 **CrimmsonRiott: lmao no**

 **CrimmsonRiott: we took cheek swabs and ate them like the nasties we r**

 **BestJeanass: disgusting**

 **BestJeanass: I love it**

 **BestJeanass: did anything happen**

 **CrimmsonRiott: not yet**

 **Small_Might: we're gonna give it until tomorrow in case there's a delayed reaction. We all know how to activate each other's quirks so I guess we're just gonna keep trying or w/e**

 **BestJeanass: this is the weirdest fucking science project I have ever been a part of**

 **Small_Might: ikr**

Toshi groans and flops to the side, his head landing on Izuku's lap. Izuku looks up from his phone. "You good?"

"All the other hero kids got literal months to design their costumes. We get what? Two days? This is stupid."

Izuku hums. "Yeah it kinda is." He absentmindedly starts to run his fingers through Toshi's hair. They came home from school together and have since been holed up in Izuku's room trying to design costumes.

Izuku has a lot of designs. He couldn't call himself a hero fanatic if he didn't. But the thing is, a lot of them are rip-offs of Endeavor or All Might and he can't feasibly go out into the world looking like either of them with a clean conscious.

He thinks he has some kind of a design now, but they have to have the support items in by tomorrow morning and that's the one that's really giving him a run for his money. He needs something streamline that can easily light big enough fires to manipulate and do what damage he needs, but to a certain extent he wants to be able to control the amount of fire that he can make. A flamethrower is all well and good, but there's only so much control he can have over that. And then there's the issue of _lighting_ whatever stream of fuel he's got to have stored on him somewhere, which is a whole different problem in of itself.

"You know. If this whole multiple quirks things works out, I'm going to be really happy to have Ei's," Toshi mumbles. "Do you know how useful that would be? I only have a psychological quirk, that means I'm still soft and squishy and human and if people can get past me then I don't have anything to back myself up. It'd be nice to have that, even if just as a defense."

Izuku hums. "I think that's what school is for. To make you stronger because your quirk can't be everything, you know?"

"Yeah probably."

Toshi's hair is unfairly soft.

Izuku sighs. "Did you make any progress on your costume though?"

"A little. I think I have a support idea I'm going to run by the department tomorrow and then I'll just let them figure it out. If it doesn't work it's no skin off my back."

"Yeah, that's fair." Good lord it's like petting a cat. "What are you thinking?"

Toshi leans into where Izuku's nails are scratching lightly at his scalp. "I went with the mask idea. With the vocal cord adjuster. I'm not sure what support can do, but if they could get it to work that would be really nice."

"It would be nice." Izuku glances at the clock. "Shit we've been at this for a while."

Toshi groans. "Oh no. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight."

"Fuck."

"Yep. Are there any trains back to your place this late?"

Toshi groans again. "I don't even fucking knowwww I don't know where I put my phone and I don't want to move."

"I'm already googling it, don't worry." Izuku is thumbing through the train schedule and, ah fuck. "There's one more tonight and it leaves the station in uh. Ten minutes."

"I'm not going to make that." Toshi's body seems to sag further into Izuku's mattress.

"We could probably give you a ride home, my mom does have a car. Or if it's okay with you and your dad you could always stay here tonight." Izuku has never had a friend over for the night and he's honestly a little scared to ask. Especially because they both have school in the morning. "I have spare pajamas and an extra uniform shirt that my mom bought too big so it should fit you."

Toshi is quiet for a minute. "I think I'll take you up on that. But you better not do anything weird."

Izuku snorts. "You're the one who was suggesting it earlier, not me."

"Fair." Toshi groans and pushes himself up off of Izuku's lap (he leaves a cold spot, not that Izuku would ever say that). "I need to text my dad then. Where the fuck did I leave my fucking phone."

"It's right behind you." Izuku has to fight to keep from laughing. "You look exhausted."

Toshi glares at him. "I think if I close my eyes for longer than the time it takes to blink, I will fall asleep."

Izuku does laugh at that. "Fair enough. I'll grab you some clothes while you do that so you don't have to sleep in your jeans."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Toshi says, his fingers flying over the screen on his phone. "My dad says its fine. Or at least, he's more fine with it than me trying to walk home, so I guess we're good."

"Ok sweet. Do you want me to throw some blankets onto the couch or are you okay just staying in my bed? I'd offer the guest room but we're poor and this apartment is tiny and we uh, don't have one."

Toshi laughs. "You don't have to dress up the couch for me, so long as you're okay with big spoon."

"Toshi you are so much taller than me though."

"Did I fucking stutter."

…

Izuku really was expecting Toshi to have been joking. They started the night not touching (in Izuku's twin bed, that was quite a feat), with Toshi curled up, facing the wall, with his back toward Izuku. He was barely awake at maybe two am when he heard a very sleepy Toshi mumble "are you gonna spoon me or what."

He was too close to sleep to remember moving, but he did, in fact, wake up curled up around Toshi's back with his arm tossed over his friend's side. Toshi is loosely holding onto his hand and breathing heavily.

It's a nice way to wake up, in every platonic sense of the word. Not so much in the 'waking up next to the love of your life' way that people talk about, but just waking up warm with someone that you trust. It's nice, Izuku decides, pushing his nose into the back of Toshi's neck, his friend's soft hair brushing his forehead.

His alarm hasn't gone off yet, so he still has time to enjoy this.

If anyone finds out about this they're never going to hear the end of it, are they?

Hmm.

Fuck.

Well. No one has to know. That's an easy enough solution. He's so good at this. A genius, even.

Fuck there's his alarm.

He hugs Toshi tighter in denial that it's happening as his friend stirs.

"Fuck, why do you wake up so fucking early…" Toshi mumbles, shifting to rub his eyes with the heel of his hand. "The sun isn't even up yet."

"I have to catch an early train." Izuku yawns.

"Fake."

Izuku can't help the startled laugh that escapes him. "What?"

"I said what I said."

"You're a nerd." Izuku sits up stretches, yawning again.

"And now I'm a cold nerd." Toshi pouts. "I was so warm and then you _left me._ " He throws an arm over his eyes. "I can't believe I've been abandoned like this. How could you do this to me."

"Oh my god." Izuku is laughing, he can't help it.

"Traitor." Toshi is still in a complete deadpan.

Izuku shoves off his bed, leaving Toshi lying there. "I'm gonna shower real quick. You can have it next if you want, or nah."

Toshi throws the covers back over his head. "Fine by me, wake me up when you're done, I'm going back to sleep."

…

They run by the support department before school starts and drop off their preliminary designs/ideas. Powerloader looks them over and hums. "We should be able to do something with this. Hatsume will be excited, at the very least. I'll try to keep her from attaching rocket launchers to anything."

They spend the day in general studies (can't just switch classes altogether, especially while they're still in "heroics probation") and Izuku feels like he's going to vibrate out of his seat the whole time.

Toshi calls him out on it.

So does Arai.

So does Kayama-sensei.

He never said he was subtle. (It's a miracle he keeps any secrets at all).

…

They were split into teams of four. Or groups of four. Five groups of four, since there were twenty of them. They went into this building. Room. Something. It was kind of a maze. The goal was to work together to get to the center. Ectoplasm was teaching so the maze was riddled with clones of him that they had to fight through. Simple enough.

Toshi swore when he found out what they were doing. "Can't use my quirk on his clones, I don't think," he said. "You'll have to try," Izuku said.

That was then.

It would have been fine. Izuku's team in in the middle, 4 out of 5. Ectoplasm pulled names out of a hat.

Tokoyami. Midoriya. Asui. Bakugou.

Izuku wanted to cry.

At least Toshi and Ei and Ashido are in a group together. Lucky bastards.

You know? He still wants to cry just a little. It got better once his match actually started. Of course Kacchan ran off to do his own thing _'I don't need you guys.'_ Typical. Izuku doesn't know Asui very well, or Tokoyami for that matter, but they have spoken before at least. They're both willing to strategize with him though. That being said, they don't have a very good plan. It mostly amounts to "more enemies means you're going in the right direction" and hoping for the best. They know it's not a complicated maze, at least. And with both Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, it's almost like they have a four-man team.

Izuku did apologize that he didn't have a support item, and so couldn't use his quirk, but Asui and Tokoyami insisted that it was fine.

There's a 15-minute timer on the match.

They've been going for probably 10 of those minutes.

The three of them are crouched behind a wall while Dark Shadow scouts around the corner to see if there are more clones. They haven't seen Kacchan once in the 10 minutes they have been in this maze. Izuku doesn't know if that's a good or a bad thing. The match hasn't been called to an end, so Kacchan hasn't found the triwizard cup or whatever is at the center.

Dark shadow comes back and signals which of the paths they need to take and how many clones they'll come up against.

"We're very close. There are 5 clones down this path, Dark Shadow says it's a straight shot from here to the end," Tokoyami says.

Izuku hums. "Five? There's only three of us. But this should be the end of them, right?"

"Hopefully," Asui (call me Tsuyu) croaks.

"If they don't all overwhelm us, we should be fine then," Izuku says.

"You can never guess how you will see in the dark until you take the first step," Tokoyami says.

Is he always like this?

"I guess not." Izuku hums. "On three?"

Tokoyami nods. "One."

"Two."

Before Izuku can say three, someone shrieks past them and around the corner in a fit of explosions.

Izuku swears as he and his other two teammates dart after Kacchan and into the fray. There are five clones of Ectoplasm, but in the close quarters of the hallway, it seems like more than that. Or you know, maybe it is.

(A well-placed kick to the midsection and this clone dissolves. Only for another to step into its place)

They only need one person to get through to the center and grab the cup. They'd already agreed that Asui was most suited to that, and if they got into a fight it was her job to sneak through and run for it.

Izuku has lost track of her, so hopefully that's what she's done.

(Jab duck kick move forward)

There's two around him now and they're so much taller and there's no way Izuku is going to beat both of them. Tokoyami is preoccupied and he's just got to hold them off until Asui can crab the cup.

Fuck.

One of the clones hits him and he stumbles back and hits a wall. He's cornered now, there's nowhere to go. He's not exactly sure what the clones are going to do to him. It can't be anything too bad, can it? He's just a student and Ectoplasm is a teacher not a villain. Unless he's the leak the school has been talking about and this is how he plans to take out the students and make it look like an accident. Or maybe Ectoplasm is the deep web hitman and this is how Izuku pays for what he knows.

Something explodes to his right.

" _Kacchan_!"

" _What?!"_ he's angry. Good reason. Another explosion. Izuku pulls.

The gym uniform he's wearing (because he doesn't have a costume yet, of course not) isn't fireproof, but that is the least of Izuku's worries right now.

The ball of fire explodes through the first of the two clones and it dissolves around it. Izuku isn't prepared, and the fire catches on his wrists, above his gloves, and burns. He bites his tongue, muffling a scream, and plunges his burning hand through the middle of the second one.

It melts around him and most of the fire is gone and he can see down the hallway a little. Just enough.

Asui is caught by one and she's struggling. They don't have enough time, Tokoyami is closer but he's busy and Izuku doesn't have enough ammunition here and his wrists are _burning_ but he can't pull the fire down to his hands or it will go inside the gloves. His eyes are tearing up but he grits his teeth—

He only has seconds

Kacchan is running up behind him and he knows why—he's angry. He's yelling. He won't explode again, Izuku has his fire and he's scared, Izuku knows that he's scared.

This is going to have to be enough.

He spins. Looks Kacchan in the eyes, moves. Pulls the fire away from one hand, to the other. He needs the momentum. Kacchan's eyes go wide (fear) and he yells but Izuku can't hear him over the blood pounding in his ears.

It's not graceful (will it ever be?) but the fire from Kacchan's hands is rocketing through the air. Izuku vaguely hears himself yell "duck" and maybe Tokoyami hears because he does move out of the way, and Asui does too before the tiny ball of fire crashes into the clone.

Maybe he yells "go." Maybe he doesn't. But Asui is running Kacchan is angry and Izuku's eyes are full of tears and they start to spill over as he sobs. His wrists are bleeding.

"What the FUCK was that?!" Izuku doesn't turn to face him, and Kacchan pushes him from behind. It's not gentle, and Izuku falls to his knees.

"Hero team wins!" Ectoplasm's voice echoes and the last of the clones dissolve.

"What the Fuck was that." Kacchan's voice is wet, but Izuku can't look at him, sobs raking his chest.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't mean to—"

"Like _hell_ you didn't mean to, asshole." Kacchan moves to kick him but Ectoplasm (maybe a clone?) grabs him and pulls him backwards. "Like Hell! You know what you did!"

"I'm so sorry it won't happen again." Izuku chokes out. "It won't. It won't happen again I'm so sorry. I'm so fucking sorry—"

…

 **CrimmsonRiott: has anyone heard from Deku**

 **CrimmsonRiott: he isn't answering my texts**

 **Mindfuck: mine either**

 **Mindfuck: I couldn't find him after school either**

 **CrimmsonRiott: fuck**

 **CrimmsonRiott: ProfessionalYike**

 **CrimmsonRiott: help**

 **ProfessionalYike: ya what's up. what happened**

 **Mindfuck: hero exercise. Something went bad (?) and I haven't seen Izuku since he went to the nurse's for the burns on his wrists**

 **ProfessionalYike: shit that's not good**

 **ProfessionalYike: what happened? Exactly**

 **CrimmsonRiott: uhhh he n Bakugou were on a team. They got cornered, Izuku used his quirk and I think it burned his wrists. They won the thing but Kacchan pushed him down and was gonna kick him? I don't know, we only had visual not audio. Izuku didn't say anything after they got done and went straight to the nurse and we haven't heard from him since.**

 **ProfessionalYike: shit fuck**

 **ProfessionalYike: that's really not good**

 **Mindfuck: why? Any insight would be lovely, I am very confused**

 **CrimmsonRiott: yea same**

 **ProfessionalYike: it's uh. Not really my story to tell.**

 **ProfessionalYike: maybe after this blows over ask Izuku to tell you how bakubitch got his scar. Or ask Bakugou.**

 **ProfessionalYike: I don't know if either of them will talk, but it's better to hear the story from them, not from me.**


	16. The One with Vague Consequences

Ectoplasm had asked him to go over the video footage from that day's hero training. Shouta was expecting it in part, he always liked to review his class's performance anyway—but he had two new students this time, he would be surprised if Ectoplasm _hadn't_ asked about them.

The surprising bit was that Ectoplasm had seemed genuinely concerned.

They had started by going over Shinsou's performance, which was generally unremarkable. He seemed to get on well enough with his teammates, and what little combat skills he had were put to good enough use.

"There's obvious room for improvement, but the same can be said about any of them," Shouta says, raising an eyebrow. "I see no cause for concern here."

"No," Ectoplasm pauses the video feed and opens the fourth of the five files. "And it seems that Midoriya is in a similar place, if only slightly farther along in physical combat skills." He lets the video run and Shouta scoffs as Bakugou runs away from the group. The feed splits, watching Bakugou charge forward—blowing past any obstacles he reaches, while the other members of his group move forward more as a team, using Tokoyami and Asui's skills in scouting to get through the maze.

"So the problem is…?"

Ectoplasm holds up a finger. "Watch." He pulls the video forward, towards the end of the feed. The three kids are obviously overwhelmed by the sheer number of clones they're fighting, but are each doing well enough for themselves when Bakugou shows up and throws himself into the fray. Again, nothing terribly out of the ordinary happens until Midoriya uses Bakugou's quirk to open a path for Asui to reach the end of the maze—and Bakugou assaults him. He pushes him to the ground and moves like he's going to kick him before Ectoplasm restrains him and pulls him away. Both boys are yelling, but there's no audio and Shouta can't see either one well enough to get a reading.

"What the hell was that?" Shouta is angry. Bakugou is violent, yes. He has a short temper and struggles to work with other people. But he has never assaulted a classmate. "What were they saying?"

Ectoplasm shakes his head. "I'm not sure exactly, Midoriya was apologizing and Bakugou said some really nasty things along with 'you know what you did'," as if Midoriya provoked him, though I've reviewed this footage ten or twenty times and can't find anything that could be a provocation."

Shouta hums. "Play it again." Midoriya showed real potential, Shouta would hate to have to let him go because his own class was hostile. In any case, this was unacceptable behavior on Bakugou's part—and Midoriya's if he did indeed provoke Bakugou to violence.

He watches again as Midoriya rips the explosion out of Bakugou's hands and into his own, then forward to obliterate the clones holding Asui. He sees Bakugou push past the clones he was fighting in a dead sprint down the hallway just to stop and shove a bleeding Midoriya to the floor.

This was troubling indeed.

…

There's a lot of things in this world that Chie can say with full confidence that she hates. Sprained ankles. Her current maths teacher. 'Gamer boys' yelling slurs at her. Mushrooms.

 _Not being able to get ahold of Izuku._

Especially when she knows that he's not doing well. But he's not answering her texts or her calls or anything goddammit. Miss Midoriya better be taking good care of that boy. Chie knows that Izuku's mom is wonderful about things like this, she's very intuitive and would be able to see through Izuku's 'I'm fine' lies in a heartbeat. Bu if he's gonna lock himself in his room (or worse yet, not come home at all, that's happened a few times) then there isn't much any of them can do to help, and Chie hates that worst of all.

She raps her nails impatiently on her phone.

 **ProfessionalYike: any luck?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: in activiating deku's quirk or in finding him**

 **ProfessionalYike: either**

 **CrimmsonRiott: nada to both.**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I've been staring at this goddam candle for 8 years now I cant make it do anything**

Chie frowns and flips over to her text messages. She deliberately does not read the string of worried texts on her end and refreshes it again. No luck.

 **[Me]**

[Izuku please let me know when you get these]

After a second, she adds

 **[Me]**

[I'm worried about you]

 **Mindfuck: Does anyone have his mom's #? maybe we'd have better luck with that**

 **CrimmsonRiott: nO**

 **ProfessionalYike: oh shit I might have her number let me check**

 **ProfessionalYike: toshi ur a genius**

 **Mindfuck: thanks, I try**

Chie almost laughs. Almost. She does have Miss Midoriya's number, thank goodness. Probably left over from when Izuku and her parents' traded off picking them up from practice when they were little (that was before Izuku's dad left, holy shit) and Chie's parents had given her this ANCIENT little flip phone that could only store five or six different contacts.

 **[Me]**

[Hi, this is Chie. I haven't heard from Izuku all day and was hoping you knew where he was?]

Why is texting adults so hard. It shouldn't be this hard. She's a strong, independent 15-year old girl, she shouldn't be this nervous texting her _second mother._ In all fairness though, she hasn't texted Miss Midoriya… probably ever. Called her a few times, maybe. This is new territory.

 **[Midoriya Inko]**

[Chie! Darling I haven't heard from you in so long, how is Tokyo?]

[Izuku is with me, don't worry. He's had a rough day, but I'll tell him you're looking for him.]

 **[Me]**

[Oh thank you so much]

And it's good! Still getting used to being on my own, but I'm surviving.

Chie breathes a sigh of relief. If Izuku is with his mom then at least he isn't sulking by himself. He'll talk to her when he's ready. Hopefully. He always has. Come to think of it… this is the first time he's used his quirk on Katsuki since junior high, isn't it? Goddamn… no wonder the reaction was this big. Izuku swore up and down he wouldn't do it, and she knows goddamn well that Katsuki isn't going to let him live it down.

 **ProfessionalYike: I found him. he's with his mom**

 **CrimmsonRiott: oh thank goodness**

 **Mindfuck: where would we be without you chie**

 **ProfessionalYike: dead probably**

 **Mindfuck: fair**

 **Mindfuck: aslo ei how tf do you activate your quirk again**

 **CrimmsonRiott: you just kinda. Yeet**

 **Mindfuck: helpful**

 **CrimmsonRiott: :(**

 **Mindfuck: are you having any luck?**

 **CrimmsonRiott: nO**

 **CrimmsonRiott: "u just look at the flame and you pull it toward you. Like youre reaching out and just yank"**

 **CrimmsonRiott: fuck u deku not all of us have the force :(**

 **ProfessionalYike: I fuckin snorted**

 **ProfessionalYike: maybe it takes 5 years to develop**

 **CrimmsonRiott: uGH**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I will have FORGOTTEN by then don't u kno**

 **CrimmsonRiott: I don't wanna be 20.. livin a nice life with my husband,, getting snuggly by the fire and then accidentally activiate deku's quirk and ruin my honeymoon**

 **Mindfuck: who the fuck said that was going to happen**

 **CrimmsonRiott: IT MIGHT**

…

Izuku comes to visit her at work sometimes. He did it more when he was younger, right after Hisashi left them and Izuku would still get skittish when staying at their 'new' apartment. Lately whenever he comes to visit her it's typically just to drop something off, or he's in the area and thought he'd come say hi.

He's sitting at one of her tables now, has been for a few hours, picking idly at a bowl of miso soup. She stands with him whenever she has a minute, but he seems to be lost in thought, offering one word or shrugged answers to her questions.

At least he came to see her. There isn't a lot of comfort she can give when he gets like this, but still, she likes to be around him. She's gathered that it has got something to do with Katsuki. Izuku hasn't had any real problems with him in a few years. They'd get into a scrap here and again, but nothing Izuku couldn't walk away from.

Inko hasn't seen her son this shaken up about his childhood friend since. Oh dear, is Katsuki okay? Surely if it was something bad, Izuku would have told her. He always did.

Inko bites her lip and glances over to where Izuku is sitting, watching the broth ripple as he stirs his soup, a faraway look in his eyes. Maybe she'll text Mitsuki about this, just to be safe.

…

Eijirou is bound, set, and determined to get to the bottom of this. He didn't see Deku until lunch today, and he seems to be much better. Laughing with them, making snarky comments, the whole nine yards. But the couple times he's caught Toshi's eyes when Deku wasn't looking—yeah Toshi still seems to think there's something up.

"Hey buddy, what happened yesterday?" Eijirou asks around a bite of his lunch.

Maybe he's imagining things, maybe not, but it looks like Deku gets paler. "Ah. Nothing. Er, well I mean, something I guess. It's not important."

Eijirou furrows his eyebrows. "Hey now, don't be like that. You didn't look to good buddy, I'm just trying to care about you."

Deku's face pinches as he thinks. "Remember when I said that Kacchan has a complex?"

"lil bitch complex" Toshi mumbles.

Eijirou snorts. "Yeah yeah I remember, what about it?"

"He doesn't like that my quirk is dependent on his. Something like that. I'm not really sure." Deku shakes his head. "I used his quirk yesterday and he didn't like that."

Eijirou frowns. He pieced that much together yesterday. There's gotta be something deeper than that though, Chie said it "wasn't her story to tell" and 'Bakugou doesn't like Deku to pull from his quirk' isn't much of a story. Or at least, it's not a story that's much deeper than 'Bakugou has an ego.'

He catches Toshi's eye again and Toshi shakes his head, just enough for Eijirou to notice. Yeah they're both on the same page then. Deku is being dodgy about this.

Well! Chie said the other person worth asking is Bakubitch himself. And if Deku isn't going to talk, then Eijirou stands better odds of getting the story out of Bakugou. At the very least, it'll be fun to try.

 **[Me]**

[I'm gonna try asking Bakugou]

Toshi looks surprised that Eijirou would text him at all, considering they're sitting at the same table, but his eyes go especially wide when he reads the message. Eijirou shrugs.

 **[Purple hedgehog]**

[Are you fucking crazy]

 **[Me]**

[You kow]

[I get asked that a lot]

Toshi glares at him. Eijirou shrugs again.

 **[Me]**

[If I learned anythingfrom deku]

[its to do whatever it takes to get to the bottom of something]

 **[purple hedgehog]**

[Fuck]

[Okay]

[Just don't die trying]

 **[Me]**

[Lmao yea we ll see about that]

Toshi rolls his eyes.

"Oh!" Deku smacks the table as if some realization he's had has startled him. "Costume designs are due today fuck! And aren't internships due tomorrow?"

"Ah shit yeah." Toshi says. "I thought I had a good costume but apparently it looks too much like Monoma's and we can't have that."

Izuku snorts. "You were really going to go with a suit design?!"

"I'm the conductor, I thought, you know" Toshi waves his hands like he's leading music, "conducting."

"Aren't you the Director?" Eijirou asks

"Oh fuck I forgot about that."

Deku laughs. "Toshi you're a disaster."

Eijirou is snickering too. "In that case don't you just need like, a hoodie and some track pants? Carry around one of those cutscene clappy boards?"

"Oh fuck off." Toshi glares.

"No really though," Deku says, "it would probably do you a ton of good to have a super discreet costume like that, right?"

"Yeah probably, but then what's the point of the costume?"

Deku shrugs. "Bulletproof cargo pants can go a long way, my friend."

Toshi's eyes go wide like he's just seen god. "Zuku you're a fucking genius."

…

Shouta wasn't supposed to have his class for heroics today, but he pulled a few strings and is now working a rescue training alongside Thirteen—who was recently cleared for teaching duty again. He figured it was appropriate, considering the class's last rescue training with Thirteen was so rudely interrupted.

That and he wanted to keep a closer eye certain students.

USJ hadn't been declared safe yet—the building had been repaired but isn't up to new security clearance (aka, there are still investigations into how the villains got in in the first place, and it likely won't be declared safe until a conclusion is reached. Shouta has mentioned that it was clearly just the work of some villain's quirk, but that 'isn't a good enough answer' apparently. To be fair, the villains also discovered the class and teaching schedules, which is a cause for concern). The rescue training is being held in one of the urbanized training grounds that were previously used to simulate natural disasters before USJ was built.

All in all it's a very tame operation, more protocols and information on how to work with police and other rescue forces than anything else. Basically, no opportunities for Bakugou or Midoriya to act out unless they specifically create a problem on their own. And if they do, Shouta will be there to stop it and get to the root of whatever issue this is.

And if they don't? Then maybe he can write it off as a one-time fluke, discipline each of the boys individually and keep a looser eye on them in the future.

As it turns out, the plan didn't work _exactly_ like that. Neither one of the boys interacted with each other during any part of the hour. Not for Shouta's lack of trying though, any time he thought maybe they would have to _look_ at each other; Midoriya was suddenly on the other side of the crowd, the other side of the room, the other side of the _building._ If he wasn't watching for it specifically, Shouta knows he would have missed it. The class goes off without a hitch and that in itself is suspicious as hell.

He needs to sort this out with the two of them, or at least figure out what caused the outburst yesterday. It needs to be dealt with, regardless.

If he's going by what he heard and saw yesterday, Midoriya seems to be the instigator. Bakugou tends to be a very reactionary person, and while Shouta would love to jump to fixing that, it might be better to start at the apparent root of the problem.

…

Aizawa pulls Izuku aside at the end of the lesson, and he waves a nervous Ei and Toshi away before following his teacher back into the classroom.

"Can I help you?" probably not Izuku's best word choice, but hey. It's something.

Aizawa sighs as he sits behind his desk. "I watched the tapes from yesterday's heroics class—" Izuku breathes in sharply, and Aizawa definitely notices. "Do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Uh…" he really didn't think he would have to explain this. People stopped questioning the violence a long time ago. "My quirk is dependent on there already being fire in my vicinity, and I don't have a support item yet." He's talking slower, choosing his words very carefully. He can only hope that Aizawa doesn't notice. "So when I was in a tricky situation, the timer was almost up and we were all more or less stuck, I insulted Kacchan—ah, Bakugou because I knew he'd light off an explosion that I could use." He nods at the end of the story and prays that Aizawa didn't listen closely to the audio. Or didn't talk to anyone who was there.

"So, let me get this straight. You insulted him, and he… assaulted you?" Aizawa looks bored. Izuku thinks he probably always looks bored. He wishes he could read his teacher's expression.

Izuku nods in response. He prays to whatever god is out there that his face looks earnest enough.

Aizawa nods sharply. "That will be all, Midoriya. Please refrain from further conduct. This is a heroics course and you will need to learn to work with people without making them angry at you."

"Of course sensei." Izuku nods and then moves as fast as he can (without breaking into a dead sprint) out of the classroom. God, he hopes Aizawa bought that.

…

Shouta watches the tape again after Midoriya leaves. Thinks that they should invest in some cameras that capture audio as well. He watches that clip, it's only 15 seconds long, over and over. Changes angles. Watches their mouths. He hasn't needed to read lips in years, but that doesn't change the fact that he knows Midoriya didn't say anything to Bakugou.

He leans back in his chair and rubs his temples.

Midoriya lied. That much was obvious.

He just has to figure out _why._

…

As it turns out, Bakugou isn't much help either.

"I fucking know it wasn't 'okay' to hit him, just give me detention and let's move on." His arms are crossed and he's glowering something awful.

Shouta sighs. He needs a nap.

…

Ei tries to talk to Bakugou between homeroom and their next class, he even waits outside the door while Aizawa-sensei talked to him. Not listening in, of course, he just wants to walk between classes with Bakugou. Which is something he usually tolerates, actually! He never says much to Ei, but he'll walk with him the whole way and sometimes even waits for him which is _super cool._

Anyway so Ei is waiting and is probably too overexcited when Bakugou finally comes out, considering how sullen the other boy is.

"So?" Ei can't help himself but to bounce as they walk.

"Detention." Bakugou kicks at the ground. "And if I don't do well in my internship or if I act out again I'm at risk for expulsion."

"Wow really? That seems a little extreme."

Bakugou almost laughs. "Really? Some kid got expelled on day one for coming last in the physical exam—I actually attacked a classmate. I'm surprised I'm still here."

Eijirou hums. That was… oddly humble. "Maybe Aizawa-sensei likes you?"

"Maybe."

Eijirou lets the silence linger for a moment or two.

"How did you get your scar?" damn, he should have lingered a little longer.

Bakugou visibly tenses. "Why do you want to know?"

Eijirou tries his best to look nonchalant, and shrugs, maybe too hard. "I'm just curious. You said something at the sports festival about it being related to Deku?"

Bakugou is quiet. "It was an accident when we were in primary school. We both have fire quirks. You have a scar from your quirk too, shit happens."

"Makes sense." It does, kind of. Or at least, it fits the narrative that Eijirou had already kind of put together. Bakugou looks unsettled though, and Eijirou doesn't really think an accident does that to someone. Maybe it does? He still feels like he's missing pieces.

"But hey!" he nudges Bakugou with his shoulder as they walk, "Worst case scenario you still get to do the internship, that's pretty awesome."

Bakugou scoffs. It's almost a smile. "I guess so."

…

Internship requests are due by noon on Thursday (today, yikes), and Friday after school they're all going to the train station to ship out for the weekend.

Today is Thursday.

Izuku is practically vibrating with excitement.

(Yes, yes he is done glowering. Kacchan has lunch detention today and tomorrow and if he wasn't already over it this would definitely put him over the edge. He cannot Believe that someone is actually forcing Kacchan to be accountable for his actions.)

His mood is only dampened by watching across the cafeteria as Uraraka holds a one-sided conversation with a very unresponsive Iida. He was so caught up in his own melodrama that he completely forgot one of his classmates is legitimately suffering right now— _fuck._

He didn't know what to do then and he still doesn't. Izuku doesn't know Iida at all. They've spoken what? Four times? There just isn't enough connection there for him not to sound like an arse if he were to ask if he could do anything.

Strangers offering comfort just isn't helpful.

In Izuku's experience, at least.

Which isn't a universal thing but it's the only thing he has to go on and _God_ he is guilt-ridden about this.

The point is, he could have made an effort but he didn't. And now they're all leaving for their internships in a little over 24 hours and maybe he'll just wait until after. It's not like Iida's grief is going anywhere.

* * *

 **(A/N)** hey! not dead, folks! i'm almost done with the next chapter and we're diving right into the internships, so that should be up within a couple days. thank you for your patience 3


	17. The one with Internships

Iida hasn't talked to her all. Well, he has, but not _really_ , you know? He responds sometimes if she asks him a direct question, but most of his communication has been quiet hums of acknowledgement at best. She can't get through to him no matter what she does, and Ochako is starting to feel frantic.

Iida is probably her best friend at UA and she doesn't want to lose him, but she has no idea how to comfort him. She's tried her best to sit with him in his grief, or to distract him from it, or to offer support, but he's not responding to anything.

They're all standing at the train station now, backpacks packed and each adorned with an aluminum briefcase containing their hero suits, all departing for their internships. Iida is very optimistic about the whole thing. He's smiling, laughing with their classmates, and talking with them—a complete 180 from yesterday. Ordinarily, she would be relieved. But the turn was so sudden it's just… well it's rather suspicious isn't it?

It's a dark comparison maybe, but Ochako knows well enough that people who are suicidal often have optimistic turns like this right after they've decided to act. Dear god she's praying it's an irrational fear, but once she had that thought she couldn't get it out of her mind.

"Would you look at the time!" Iida says, glancing down at his watch and up at the train schedule. "My train will be in any moment—I will see you all on Monday. Let's all do our best." His smile is almost blinding.

Ochako runs after him as he starts to walk away.

"Iida!"

He turns back to her.

"You would—" she has no idea what to say. "You would tell me if there was something wrong, right? You would come to me?" her voice is so uncertain, and she curses that.

Iida beams at her. "Of course, Uraraka. That's what friends are for, right?"

He doesn't give her a chance to respond before he turns on his heel and walks away from her, the uneasy feeling in her stomach only growing deeper and darker.

"Right," she whispers to the ground.

…

Izuku and Toshi had been given their hero suits at the beginning of the heroics class (which was less of a class and more of a mass field trip to the train station). They are locked away in shockingly lightweight metal cases, so Izuku still has no idea what it actually looks like. He gave very detailed sketches to the support department, but drawings don't always translate to reality, and they really only had two days to work on it.

He peeked inside, of course, and was thrilled to see glints of gold between the dark crimson folds of fabric. The color is going to clash horribly with his hair but what is the point of being a hero if not to dress in the most obnoxious fashion possible.

Aside from aesthetics though, he's hoping his mentor will give him some time to adjust to the support item he'd requested. His quirk is dependent on an already present source of fire, and his way to rectify that was to ask for gloves with spark pads in the fingers and some way to store fuel around his wrists. He'd thrown around some ignition ideas, but wanted to leave it kind of to the professionals to find the most efficient construction for the whole thing. The point is, he's going to need some time to figure out how the hell any of it works.

He bounces a little on his feet. His train isn't going to be here for another thirty or so minutes, so he has some time to kill. Toshi stands next to him and checks his phone.

"You chose Eraserhead, right?" Izuku asks.

Toshi snorts. "No fucking shit. He's literally my favorite hero _and he sponsored me_ , why the hell would I not?"

Izuku shrugs. "I don't know. Variety? He's going to be our teacher, I would understand if you wanted to expand your horizons or whatever."

"Counterpoint, this may be my only chance to train one-on-one with Eraserhead."

"That is an excellent point."

"Three whole days, Zuku. I get to work with him in Office. I get to see how he _operates._ " He gestures vaguely. "Yes he's our teacher, but this is just a whole different ballpark."

Izuku laughs. "You don't have to justify it to me, I _get it._ "

Toshi sighs. "I just really don't want to fuck this up, you know?"

"Yeah I know." Izuku shifts on his feet and glances around. A good half of their classmates (and the people in class 1B) have already left. Uraraka looks shaken up about something? He'll go talk to her.

"I've got to go catch my train. Text me?"

"Yeah of course. Good luck Toshi, you're going to be great."

Toshi laughs as he starts walking. "Thanks, you too."

"Oh! Don't forget to send us a selfie! Of your costume!"

"I Won't, thanks for asking!" he calls over his shoulder.

Izuku has to physically restrain himself from yelling 'fuck you' across the platform. They _are_ in public after all, and that isn't terribly polite.

He is going to talk to Uraraka though.

"Hey."

She nearly jumps out of her skin, so clearly she didn't hear him walk up. whoops.

"Deku! Hi! Oh you scared me!"

He forces some kind of awkward chuckle. Not that he intends it to be awkward, it just ends up being awkward. "Sorry. I didn't mean to spook you. How are you? Are you ready?"

"I'm doing okay I think! I'm nervous. I'm interning with Gunhead and it's a little intimidating."

Izuku's eyes go wide. "Gunhead? I thought you wanted to be a rescue hero?"

"I do! But I think I can't rely on only one skill set. Even if I'm a rescue hero primarily, there's going to be times when I have to stand up and fight." She has a faraway look in her eyes.

"Is this about…?"

She shakes her head to snap out of the daze. "Yeah kind of. It's not an easy image to get out of my head, you know?"

Izuku nods. He's never seen a pro hero beaten to unconsciousness right in front of him while he had no choice but to watch, but he's seen some things that don't easily leave the mind so he understands. "You'd only been in the hero program for three days at that point, no one would have expected you—"

"Oh yeah I know. I just don't want it to happen again." Uraraka puts up her fists. "Gotta train up all my skillsets so I can kick some ass if need be."

Izuku laughs. "Of course of course." he glances around. "Has Iida left already?"

Uraraka nods. "Yeah, just a few minutes ago."

"Ah damn. Is he doing any better? I haven't had a chance to talk to him." Not _entirely_ a lie, but also not quite the truth either.

"Er…" Uraraka shifts. "I don't think so? He was acting happier today, but I'm still worried. I don't think he's quite talked to anyone about it? I just don't want him bottling it all up."

Izuku hums in acknowledgement. After the internships are over he'll definitely put some more effort into befriending Iida. Not just for this, he does want to be friends just for friendship's sake. This is just… a bonus. If it can be called that. "He's got a good head on his shoulders, I can't see him doing anything too terribly stupid."

"I hope so."

Izuku glances at his phone. Ei is already on a train and has been spamming the group chat, he'll have to catch up on everything. His train is going to be here soon though. Soon-ish. He should probably go to the platform.

"I've gotta head out. Good luck, Uraraka, you're going to be great."

She beams at him. "Thanks, Deku! You too! We'll have to hang out after so we can swap stories."

"That sounds fantastic, actually. See you on Monday?"

"See you Monday!"

Izuku can't help but bounce as he turns and starts walking away. He's just excited, sue him. This whole thing is everything he's ever wanted and it all happened so fast! The sports festival hasn't even been a full week ago. One week ago he was in general studies and could only hope that he'd make it into heroics—let alone be interning with a Pro Hero for a weekend. It is, quite literally, a dream come true.

There are a couple 1B students waiting at his platform along with Tokoyami and Satou. Tokoyami nods at him. They've been friendly ever since the sports festival, which is nice. Tokoyami is a nice guy. They haven't been super buddy-buddy, but like. That's one less person to dislike him and Izuku is going to count that as a win, of course.

.

The train is pretty crowded (it's Friday afternoon and he isn't sure what he was else he was expecting) and Izuku and Tokoyami end up sliding into a row together, with Izuku pressed up against the window. They don't talk to each other.

(Not that that's a _bad_ thing, Izuku isn't even sure what he would say if they were to talk. There's just a comfortable silence, he's not sure how else to describe it.)

 **Small_Might: just got on the train**

 **Small_Might: here we goooo**

 **CrimmsonRiott: YEA BOIIII**

 **Mindfuck: I'm already at the place so take that**

 **Mindfuck: but also hey google how do I stop being Literally Terrified of this**

 **Small_Might: idk bro, lmk when you find out, I'd love to have that information**

 **Mindfuck: will do**

 **CrimmsonRiott: TOSHI BUDDY WE STILL NEED A SELFIE I WANNA SEE UR COSTUME**

 **Mindfuck: hold your FUCKING horses ei I literally JUST got here**

Izuku snorts. His internship is pretty far north, so he's going to be here for a while. He rolls his jacket up and props it between his head and the window. There's nothing quite so otherworldly as a nap on public transport.

It's the little things in life.

…

He has an alarm set on his phone for 7 minutes before the train was scheduled to arrive, but he wakes up before it goes off anyway. Not long before it goes off, there's only 13 minutes left in the journey.

He blinks, trying to clear the sleep from his eyes and looks out the window. There are still a few hours of daylight left, but not many. He's never actually been this far—the scenery is so different. The skyline is different. It's unsettling in a very strange way—there are just so many more people here, he can tell. Could be the Very Urban skyline up against the mountains, but there's also just this… hum? In the air. This place is warm and lived in, but not in the homey way that Hosu is. It's warm in that way a bonfire is—warm but destructive.

He's also still half-asleep, so that could be it too.

"Did you sleep well?"

"What?"

Tokoyami still doesn't quite look at him. "Did you sleep well?"

"Oh, uh, yeah." Izuku rubs at his eyes with the heel of his hands. "About as well as I could, but yeah."

"The others got off at the last stop, are you also interning in the north end of the city?"

Izuku nods. The world is still a little hazy. He checks his phone. They've got 8 minutes to the station. The group chat is mostly Chie asking Kuma for homework help. Figures that Ei and Toshi wouldn't be able to talk much after reaching their respective offices.

"Your review on this internship is going to directly impact your ability to stay in the heroics program, does that make you nervous?"

Directly to the point then. Izuku swallows. "Yeah of course. I don't have nearly as much training as you guys, I don't want to fuck up just for that. This whole thing is kind of important for me."

"I would be uncomfortable in your situation, I think."

"Thanks?"

"I would like you to do well. I have enjoyed your company. Shinsou too. It would be a shame to lose you both over this."

"Ah thanks. I'm hoping it goes well for both of us too. And you! And everyone I guess."

Tokoyami seems to laugh at that. "Aren't we all."

.

They don't say much else to each other as the train pulls into the station and people grab their bags and file out. They also don't say much to each other as they head off the platform in the same direction.

Or as they walk down the same street.

Or the next.

Or the next.

Izuku stops in front of a large building. So does Tokoyami.

"Are we interning at the same place?" Izuku asks, gesturing to the agency they're standing in front of but that neither has made a move to actually enter.

"Unless there's another, smaller, secret agency inside this one, it appears so."

"Huh. Cool." Izuku rings the doorbell.

The door is opened almost immediately by a young hero in a dark violet and black suit. They grin, upon seeing the two of them. "You must be the interns! Come on it it's nice to have you." They step aside and Izuku follows Tokoyami through the door. "My hero name is Revive, but you can call me Obi. I'm a sidekick here. And you are? Oh—we have rooms for you, we'll let you guys get settled first and then we'll start doing some debriefing things. We like to do family dinners of sorts, you're a little late for that but are you hungry? There's bound to be leftovers."

Izuku and Tokoyami glace at each other. This is definitely not what they were expecting.

"Uh, My name is Midoriya Izuku, hero name Zuku."

"I'm Tokoyami Fumikage, or Tsukuyomi."

Revive (Obi?) claps. "Wonderful. I watched you two in the sports festival, you both did so well! I would have loved to see you face off against each other, but there's nothing we can do about that now."

"Hey Obi, are you giving the interns a hard time?"

All three of them snap to side to see the speaker. He's half out of costume, leaning on a doorframe leading to the next room, holding a plate of chicken wings and absently munching on one. Izuku has never, until now, seen the #3 hero Hawks in person, but he's definitely a lot shorter than Izuku imagined. His blond hair is wild and unruly, sticking up in every direction (a lot like Toshi's actually. both of them), but Izuku can't tell if it's mussed like that from the wind or if it's intentional.

His feet are bare too, if that adds anything to the picture.

"Listen you two, before we get to any kind of instruction or whatever Obi had planned." Hawks gestures at them, wing in hand. "I'm not super keen on nurturing the next generation or whatever. Hell, y'all are old enough that you're probably still part of my generation. That's not the point. Point is, I'm not here to coddle you.

"You," he points at Izuku. "I like you. I think. You already know the system is crooked and you're playing it just as hard as you can. Also I wasn't sure if UA would allow me to sponsor a general studies kid, which is mostly why I did it. Stick it to the man, am I right?

"And you," he points to Tokoyami with the half-eaten drumstick, "we're both birds, we're both number three… it was _honestly_ too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"Chicken Wing?" he holds the plate out toward them.

Izuku and Tokoyami glance at each other, but before either of them can respond, Hawks turns on his heel back into the room he came from. "Your loss, honestly."

…

Tokoyami slams his bag down onto the floor of the room they'll be sharing. Well, he drops it, but 'slam' is maybe more mood-appropriate. "What the _fuck_."

Izuku looks up sharply from rummaging through his bag.

"'Doesn't have time to nurture the next generation' my ass. He sponsored us for a joke, Midoriya."

"I mean, yeah—"

"And everything Obi said! About how he treats his sidekicks—they're not really sidekicks, they just clean up his messes. That's what we're going to be doing, Midoriya. Cleaning up the messes of an overgrown child."

"To be fair." Izuku puts up a finger. "I kind of already knew that."

Tokoyami glares at him.

"Listen, he's not that much older than us, relatively speaking. Only what, six or seven years? He's practically still a kid and—AND," Izuku see's Tokoyami start to open his mouth (beak?), "And speed is kind of his thing, it makes sense. We'll still be getting field experience this way even though maybe we might not be working directly with the number three hero."

Tokoyami continues to glare.

Izuku sighs. "Yes! Yes I'm disappointed. I kind of guessed that this wouldn't be great, considering Hawks' fighting style and the fact that we've only been high school for about eight weeks, but I definitely am not thrilled with this current arrangement."

Tokoyami's glower doesn't lift.

Izuku sighs again and runs a hand through his hair. "Look, man. We're headed out on patrol with them early tomorrow morning and I have never tried on my costume, let alone figured out how my support item works. Would you mind coming with me to see if we can find any kind of dojo or gym or something so I can throw some fireballs around and maybe not horribly embarrass myself tomorrow?" He puts on his best pleading face and prays that will be enough.

Tokoyami still looks annoyed, but his shoulders droop with a sigh of his own. "I suppose you're right. I guess I thought too highly of my own skills for them to be undervalued like this."

Izuku hums. "Same. As much as I kind of resigned myself to this as soon as he offered us a chicken wing, I definitely was hoping this would be a way to prove myself." He looks down at his hands. "But hey, worse comes to worst, we can put an internship with the number three hero on our résumés, right?"

Tokoyami almost laughs at that. "You're right. Do you want to find some kind of practice area? I would be happy to work with you while you get everything sorted. Fire may not be my forte, perhaps, but Dark Shadow would make for a good sparring partner."

"Thanks man, I appreciate it."

…

They did find a… something. It's a room in the basement of the agency that could arguably be called a gym. It's more of a cave than anything else, with a huge vaulted ceiling and rough, unfinished floors. The space is massive, and as far as Izuku can tell, pretty damn fireproof.

Excellent.

He had considered just wearing his support item, but his whole hero costume should have been made out of fireproof material, and while he's getting used to whatever flamethrower he'd been given he figured it would probably be smart not to injure himself too terribly much.

His costume is honestly everything he could have wanted. It's maybe a little heavier than he expected, but fireproof fabric probably isn't super lightweight.

His costume is comprised of two main parts. A skin tight (on his upper body, the pants are looser) red bodysuit with a high, Chinese-styled collar, and a darker crimson tunic with gold edging and a hood to be worn over it. The knee-high boots are made of a very soft leather that conforms to his feet and are obviously styled to look like the tape wrappings of a dancer—or a gymnast. There's a mask too. It's styled to look like a firefighter's mask, with a rubber seal tight around the outside of his face and a filtration within the glass around his mouth and nose. It's not strictly necessary, maybe. Izuku's mouth and throat are largely fireproof, but he's not sure how his lungs will hold up when dealing with that much smoke and he'd rather be safe than sorry.

The part of his costume he's the most interested in though is the gauntlets. They've been crafted so they look almost wooden. They're very elegant, honestly, with a dark mahogany stain over what looks like cherry, covering the intricate, partially geometric engravings that encase the top side.

They're not wood, they're just made to look like it. They're actually a lightweight, hollow metal, and the raised patterns are filled entirely with propane gas. He has to snap the gauntlets into fuel lines sewn into the palms of his suit/gloves, but from there the line runs across his palm and into a small opening by his thumb. There are spark pads in the tip of his thumb, index and middle finger on both hands.

There was a note folded against them in the briefcase (from Mei, unsurprising as that is) detailing how to use them. There's a trigger point below his littlest finger that opens the gas flow, from which he only needs to snap to ignite it. As long as his pinkie finger is pressed down, fuel will be added and the fire will get bigger. As soon as he lifts, the line cuts off and the fire stops growing.

The obvious drawback to this is that he only has as much fuel in a fight as he can carry in his gauntlets, but Mei says she's working on some way to make "portable recharges" and for now there's a propane tank in the briefcase that he can connect to the fuel valve on the back end of the gauntlets in his spare time.

All in all, Izuku couldn't be happier with the outcome.

.

Tokoyami is sitting on an outcropping some meters away while Izuku adjusts the gauntlets.

"I'm not promising anything," he says, eyeing the dark circle on each of the palms of his gloves where the fuel trigger point is.

"I'm not expecting anything." Tokoyami rolls his head back lazily. "If anything I'm curious to see how your quirk actually works, you haven't had many chances to showcase it yet."

Izuku laughs nervously. "Fair, but I want to know more about yours too."

"A reasonable trade."

Izuku hums before moving to some breathing exercises. He wants to run through his warm ups, but he's never started them from this position—where he has to make the fire himself. It's going to start in his hands.

 _Inhale._

 _Exhale._

He just needs a little bit. He presses down in his left palm and snaps.

His hand is alight instantly, and rather violently, he almost jumps back but manages to activate his quirk toward his open palm, where the fire sits and flickers playfully.

"Well, it works."

"I can see that." Tokoyami sounds amused.

Izuku is grinning as he pulls himself into his starting position and starts the familiar movements, the little ball of fire whipping around him in his intricate dance. As always, he loses himself in the motions, the serene feeling of self, of center. The soft material of his costume moves with him, the boots' soft soles moving with his feet as if they were bare.

The routine ends as he pulls the fireball with his feet through an aerial and slams it into the concrete ground where it sizzles out.

Tokoyami whistles.

Panting, Izuku flips him off.

"That was impressive, but I thought we were here to test out your support item; unless, of course, you would rather dance."

Izuku laughs. "I didn't peg you as the dancing type."

"I'm insulted you ever considered that I wasn't." Tokoyami gestures with one hand. "Go again. Go for size control."

Izuku nods and snaps. He's a little more prepared for the initial burst of flame this time and doesn't immediately release the ignition. The fire stretches out away from his hand (away from where the pump is shooting propane gas?) and pitters out at a certain distance while still raging close to his hand. Izuku frowns and pulls with his other hand.

The ends of the fire jerk toward his outstretched palm and the volume of the fire, if that's even the correct word, increases dramatically. Izuku gasps and releases the ignition. The rest of the stream of flames converges onto his hand, and he has no clue what to do with it. It's at small-bonfire levels and the heat this close to his face is a little strong.

Might as well see how well he can slingshot this bitch.

He pulls his arm back by his ear (ow) at the same time he thrusts his other arm forward and pulls sharply toward his fingertips. The ball of flame rockets down the length of his arm and then past it as he lets go of the pull on his fingertips. It crashes into the opposite wall and implodes, leaving the stone smoldering vaguely.

Izuku pulls the flames back towards his feet and the remaining streams of fire snake across the floor and gather around his boots.

"This is super fucking cool," he says, scooping up the little ball of flame from the floor and tossing it back and forth between his hands.

"That last thing you did, with the shot," Tokoyami says, "Do you think you could use your quirk as a crossbow of sorts? Ignite it back by your head and use your other extended arm to aim?"

"Huh." Izuku looks down at his hands and flicks his handful of flame to the ground. "It's worth a shot." He throws his hood up to protect his ears.

It almost feels like drawing a bow. He extends one arm forward and pulls the other back and snaps quickly, activating his quirk in the opposite fingertips.

As quickly as the flame springs to life it zips forward toward his outstretched hand and then away.

" _fuck."_ Izuku is grinning. "I finally have control over my own fucking quirk this is _fucking phenomenal._ "

Tokoyami hums. "I'd always considered people who required support items to be weaker until I met Aoyama and you. It's not so much a matter of weakness as it is that the world isn't quite built for you, is it?"

"Yeah, I guess you could put it that way." Izuku rolls his shoulders. "Spar with me? Quirks or no quirks, you decide."

"We have to be up at six o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Just one short match please?" Izuku's big round eyes are irresistible, he knows. Genetic puppy eyes means that yeah, no one takes him seriously, but also he is a master of manipulation.

Tokoyami sighs in defeat. "One match with quirks." He hops down off his perch and dark shadow emerges from his torso. "This had better be quick."

Izuku grins and shifts his feet into a fighting stance, snapping to pull a ball of fire into his hand. He doesn't intend on making this quick at all. Quite the opposite, in fact.

…

Shouto decided, against his better judgement, to take an internship with his father. In all honesty, he's surprised the old man sponsored him at all, but perhaps he was worried about what questions would be raised if he hadn't at least offered. He wasn't exactly happy with Shouto after the sports festival. Or still.

But because Shouto is an intern, they're spending the weekend in a professional setting where he has to at least pretend to be civil. It has been a nice respite, at least. That and he can still live at home, which takes a lot more stress off his mind than he was really expecting it to.

All of that said, Shouto is still exhausted. Just because the old man is required to be civil to him doesn't mean that he was going to go easy on him. Shouto doesn't really expect that to change. He didn't even place in the sports festival, so Enji has to figure some other arbitrary way for Shouto to prove himself.

It's almost looking like he plans to throw Shouto straight into a conflict and hope that his (illegal, by the way) action gives him some kind of name.

He scoffs and rolls over on his bed, gingerly. His neck is still sore from that hit he took during his fight with Midoriya (Recovery Girl had healed most of the damage, not that it was terribly serious, but neck injuries are always precarious and he is on a pretty strict regimen to keep it from aggravating). It's been a long day, and Friday was only a half-day for their internships. He still has to deal with all day tomorrow and all day Sunday.

He opens his text messages and taps at the side of his phone, thinking. His most recent text is to Fuyumi, but that's not a surprise. Next is an unlabeled number.

 **[Unknown]**

[Hi, this is Midoriya :D]

It almost makes Shouto smile. He clicks through and adds Midoriya to his contact list. Is it too late to respond? They shared contact information almost a week ago—Shouto thinks that maybe if he was going to make some kind of move toward actual friendship that he should have done it earlier. Maybe not? They aren't really in the same class after all, and it's not like he's had a ton of opportunities. Going to whatever club they have going would have been the easiest maybe, but he's not sure how much extra combat training he can take with his father breathing down his neck.

Better late than never, he supposes.

 **[Me]**

[Is it too late to take you up on that dinner offer?]

Midoriya doesn't respond instantly. Not that Shouto expects him to, but he eventually shoves his phone under his pillow and grabs a book because he can't stand the waiting.

He reads about two sentences and pulls his phone back out.

 **[Me]**

[That sounds too much like I am insinuating something]

[I mean your mom offered dinner?]

He types and then erases several more things before shoving his phone back under his pillow. The only thing stopping him from finding Midoriya and deleting the texts off his phone is that he doesn't remember where he is interning. So there's not a lot he can say to undo the fact that it definitely sounds like he's trying to come on to Midoriya. This is why he doesn't talk to people.

Well, this isn't exactly the main reason, but it definitely doesn't help.

Not for the first time he curses his isolated childhood. He would like to possess some kind of base social skills, he thinks.

…

"Damn, Tokoyami," Izuku says, rubbing at his shoulder where he'd slammed it into a jagged outcropping of the wall after Dark Shadow had dealt him a particularly heavy blow.

"My apologies. Again, I didn't realize how light you were."

Izuku snorts. "Thanks?" They're both changed for the night and just finishing up night time routines after sneaking back up through the agency. "You're really good though. Your quirk is incredible."

"I get that a lot."

"Humble."

Tokoyami looks serious. "I don't always consider it a compliment. I know it is, coming from you, but people use it to erase me. They will look at me and not see a person, just the demon living in my chest. I know that becoming a hero will only exacerbate this, but I can't help but worry about it." He looks down. "Apologies, I didn't mean to dampen the mood. I appreciate the compliment."

"Ah no, I get it." Izuku didn't think he would be having this conversation with Tokoyami of all people. But then again, the other boy had shared his greatest weakness during their first ever conversation, so he can't really be that surprised. "I don't have the same experience, so I can't relate exactly, but I get it I think. For the record, I was excited to find out I'd be spending the weekend with you."

Tokoyami nods. "Thank you. I appreciate that."

"Of course!"

Izuku is cuddled under the heavy—but not sweltering—quilt on the bed he's using when he opens his phone for the first time since he got off the train. The Group Chat™ notifications read 99+ and he sighs. He'll probably skim the backlogs to see how Ei and Toshi are doing in their internships.

He has a couple texts from Mom, mostly asking if he got in okay and if Hawks is nice. He tries to keep himself from laughing as he texts her back about how Hawks introduced himself. Mom will definitely do that appalled 'tsk tsk' about it, but he knows she'll enjoy the story.

He and Arai also traded numbers some weeks ago and they use it—not to talk to each other—to info dump about whatever thing they happen to be researching and need to tell someone about. He has a string of texts from her which he'll happily read in a few minutes, once the other business (if he can call it that) is sorted.

He does quirk a proverbial eyebrow at one message. Or rather, three.

 **[Todoroki]**

[Is it too late to take you up on that dinner offer?]

[That sounds too much like I am insinuating something]

[I mean your mom offered dinner?]

 **[Me]**

[Of course it's not too late!]

[Probably not right now lol]

[But sometime this week? When are you free?]

He isn't expecting the reply to come so soon.

 **[Todoroki]**

[Yes this week, that's what I meant]

[I can slip away Tuesday or Wednesday]

 **[Me]**

[My mom works Tuesday so let's plan on Wednesday?]

 **[Todoroki]**

[Okay, let me know what time]

[And address]

 **[Me]**

[Yeah definitely, I'll ask about times first and get back to you]

Todoroki doesn't reply, and Izuku is left smiling at the odd conversation. He wanted to talk to Todoroki, but after the botched invitation to join a self-defense club (God he didn't think that one through at all, did he?) he kind of wanted to wait to see if Todoroki would offer some kind of olive branch.

Which wasn't entirely fair of him to put that all on the kid who didn't really have any kind of social background to work with. He could make excuses all day about being out of sorts all week after the fight with Kacchan, but that's all just excuses. He probably should have done more. He will do more. Both for Todoroki and for Iida.

The group chat is full of a lot of the normal nonsense. He pauses on a photo Toshi had sent. It's very clearly a bathroom mirror selfie, but it's him in his hero costume and _goddam_ it works for him.

He has a mask on that covers from his nose to his chin and hooks around his head behind his ears. It looks sleek and intimidating—so the support department nailed the aesthetic. Hopefully it functions well enough.

The rest of the costume is gloriously inconspicuous, just what Toshi wanted. He has a leather jacket (with a silk lining, Toshi had insisted. Of course the support department could have made it impervious to piercing, but Toshi was really dedicated to the streetfighter aesthetic. And silk just so happens to really effectively deflect slashing damage) and some kind of dark fingerless gloves. The shirt underneath is punctuated with some electric purple geometric designs, the only colorful accents in the whole costume. His pants are baggy and clearly made with comfort and movement range in mind. They've also got large pockets on the exteriors of each leg, supplementing the utility belt already around his waist.

The dark, lace-up combat boots really complete the look.

 **Mindfuck: guys my costume actually looks hella**

 **CrimmsonRiott: YO**

 **CrimmsonRiott: Y O**

 **CrimmsonRiott: if I wasn't already gay this woulda done it folk**

 **BestJeanass: yea same here**

 **BestJeanass: are you concerened about the jacket constricting movement?**

 **Mindfuck: a little? I wrote in my notes about how I wanted the whole thing to function, and it doesn't feel as stiff as other things Ive worn?**

 **Mindfuck: I'll test it out and let you guys know.**

 **BestJeanass: lit lit**

 **BestJeanass: it looks kickass though, I would be scared meeting u in a dark alley**

 **Mindfuck: lmao thanks**

That's been a couple hours ago, the conversation shifted to Ei's internship and how Tetsutetsu is actually a super cool guy and Ei is happy to be working with him.

 **Small_Might: hey guys sorry ive been busy**

 **Small_Might: Toshi u look hot**

 **Small_Might: full homo**

 **Small_Might: also guys check out my costume I actually cried**

 **Small_Might: [image]**

It's a picture he'd gotten Tokoyami to take while they were down in the basement room. Post-spar though, so his hair is a mess and he looks downright exhausted. But this picture is just for the costume, the wild look in his eyes really only adds to it.

 **CrimmsonRiott: guys,,, my friends r so attractive**

 **CrimmsonRiott: how am I gonna deal….**

 **Mindfuck: ah shit that turned out really well**

 **Mindfuck: have you tried the support item?**

 **Small_Might: yea! Theres propane in the gauntlets and like a trigger valve on my palms**

 **Small_Might: lng story short I can snap and make fire**

 **ProfessionalYike: I'm glad the support people had the Aesthetiqué in mind**

 **Small_Might: lmao same**

 **ProfessionalYike: I love the boots though! babe u look so cute**

 **Small_Might: thank 3**

He switches over to his texts again. He's got an early start tomorrow and he does want to skim whatever Arai sent him.

There's a lot of texts. A lot of math too? She went a little overboard with that. Not that he can really blame her. His vision is a little blurry with sleep, he'll have to read this all again tomorrow. It looks like she's trying to apply some kind of algorithm to Stain's appearances?

 **[Arai]**

[It doesn't fit perfectly I'm just shocked I found any pattern at all tbh]

[But! It all comes down to this weekend :3]

[If stain makes some kind of appearance tomorrow or maybe Sunday then Ive got a solid tracking algorithm ]

[Prolly I'll tell some police or something idk]

[Not to like. wish death on some poor hero or something that s kind of awful]

[But also. He's gonna act up this weekend I can feel it in my bOnes]

Izuku hums and flips back off her texts. He's actually pretty close to Hosu as it is, so that will be interesting. It's later now than he intended it to be and he does have to be up and ready by six tomorrow morning and that hm. If he falls asleep immediately he'll be lucky to pull five and a half hours of sleep. Not nearly enough, but it'll have to do. He's survived on less.

Tomorrow should prove interesting.

* * *

(A/N) doesn't let me imbed links, so y'all are gonna have to do this the old fashioned way, but i have sketches of Izuku and Hitoshi's hero costumes if y'all want

post/188828421625/hero-costume-designs-from-my-fic-embers

also for the record, I had this whole internship arc planned before i knew Tokoyami interned with Hawks in canon.

last thing- i appreciate you all weighing in about support items, but i've also had Izuku's costume and support item planned since the beginning.

thanks for reading! love u guys


	18. The One with Internships part 2

"You could have had your pick of just about any hero in Japan, I'm kind of flattered you would chose to intern with me," Manual said. He and Tenya are out on a patrol of sorts. It's more for public image than anything, considering that everyone knows Stain is in Hosu. The more heroes they can see on the streets the more the public is at ease, even if it's a false sense of security.

Tenya smiles. "Of course! My own family is very prestigious, for lack of a more humble term, and I wanted to get a feel for the daily grind." The lie rolls off his tongue easier than he thinks it should.

…

"I'm tellin' ya, you guys are too slow!" Hawks stands perched on the top of a telephone pole, some of the feathers from his wings zipping around the scene rectifying things, some of them actually holding one of his sidekicks up by the back of the shirt. "Apparently one of the patrons at a bar in Cantina is out of control, so I'm headed there next! I'll leave all this aftermath here to you guys, thanks in advance!"

And then he was gone.

Again.

 _God_ Izuku is glad he worked on his endurance because the last two days have taken absolutely everything out of him. Up and ready for the day by six, and then it's go go go until whenever the hell Hawks feels like he's had enough for the day. The sidekicks all say that depends on the day. He's technically only 'on call' until about 14 or 15, but he often decides to just keep going past then.

Inertia, but the horrible hellscape version of it.

They were out until about 19:00 last night and Izuku saw none of the conflict. Not that damage control _isn't_ an especially important part of hero work—he's enjoyed (in a weird sense) helping talk some of the victims down from panic. That feels like good work. It's helpful work and he's glad to be doing it. He just kinda wishes he could actually see Hawks works, if only to get any kind of notes on the process. But by the time he, Tokoyami and the other sidekicks get to a scene, it's resolved, a total disaster, and Hawks is already flying away to resolve another incident.

He can see Tokoyami getting more and more frustrated with their current situation.

It started last night, everyone got back to the agency office where they all (Hawks included, Izuku was surprised) set out making a big 'family dinner' as they called it after everyone was done cleaning up. They were off duty for the night, and the sidekicks that had families to go home to had left some time before while the others stuck around mostly for company before retiring to their own apartments.

It was a weird activity, but there was a lot of camaraderie around that table, and Izuku got the sense that Hawks' sidekicks were genuinely happy being damage control like this. He could see how it could be appealing. Not something he could do forever, but he did enjoy working with the victims.

Anyhow, it was last night. They were done cleaning up dinner, most of the sidekicks had left for the evening and Hawks was lounging on one of the sofas in the common area.

Izuku was across the room working through some maths homework when Tokoyami approached them.

"Why did you sponsor me?"

Hawks sat up and threw his arms over the back of the couch to face Tokoyami. It's a very childlike action and it made him look younger and smaller than he actually is.

"Because we're both birds."

Tokoyami was practically vibrating with some loosely-concealed anger. "Are you joking?"

"No, I'm 20% serious. 50% of it was because I wanted to talk with someone from Class A about those little punks who attacked you guys, calling themselves the "League of Villains." And well, I figured if I had to pick one of you, it would be one who I thought could actually keep up with me. Someone with a lot of promise. So I figured, why not that birdman from the top three? He looks good."

"So… you invited me here just to hear about USJ? It was all over the internet, you could have read anything—"

Hawks held up a hand, cutting him off. "Maybe, but they're all written by people who weren't there. Soulless tales, they'll never get to the real heart of the matter."

Tokoyami was definitely fuming, but Izuku saw his expression smooth over and some kind of calm take over. "You want to know about what happened at USJ? I can tell you."

He stayed standing, and started talking about what happened. It's a similar story to what Izuku heard from Ei. Tokoyami was teleported to a remote part of the facility where he and Kouda and Ojirou were confronted with several villains. The three of them easily incapacitated the villains between Tokoyami's long-distance combat abilities and Oijirou's raw fighting skill.

They heard a commotion in the center courtyard and made their way that direction as soon as it was safe, where the saw the confrontation with All Might and the noumu. When All Might was partially incapacitated by the noumu and Kurogiri's quirk, Tokoyami helped Todoroki to interfere and allow All Might to break free and defeat the noumu before the other teachers arrived.

"And that is all I saw. I was too far away to hear most of the conversations between the villains, and had no idea what their motives were until after."

Izuku hummed and taped his pen against his chin. He realized he had been so caught up in whether or not Yagi was All Might right after the USJ incident that he hadn't really given much thought to the actual events of the day. The 'League of Villains' seemed like… well it seemed like something. Arai seemed to follow villain activity closer than he did, maybe he'll ask her.

"Curious." Hawks rubbed his jaw and for a moment lost the carefree persona he usually carries. "This has been helpful, thanks."

"Forgive me, but you're not on that case, are you?" Izuku asked. He swore he knew who is on the LoV case and Hawks wasn't on that list last he checked.

Hawks turned to him and suddenly the persona was back. "Nope! I just wanted to know for myself what happened."

"If that's all, I'll take my leave." Tokoyami bowed and walked out of the room.

The room was quiet for a moment after Hawks turned around to sit on the couch slightly more normally. Not much, he still had one foot up and one foot down and was slouching something awful. It's definitely a gay sit, and Izuku almost laughed at the thought. He didn't though.

"Why me then?" Izuku asked. "I wasn't at USJ. Or I was, but only right at the end and I never went in. I just came with the heroes and medical crew."

Hawks looked up at him. Izuku couldn't tell if he had a mask on or not. "That's a little trickier isn't it? I wasn't lying when I said I nominated you just to see if they would let me nominate a general studies kid. But also," he paused, his eyes wandering as if he was thinking, "There's something about you. I could see it in your eyes, in the way you fought. You've clearly looked at this world and realized what's wrong with it. Or you've been wronged by the system. Either way, I knew you would understand how I work if you were to accept the nomination, and I wouldn't have to fight with some bright-eyed prodigy who hasn't worked a day in their life for success. Or that thinks success is just when you punch a villain _really_ hard." Hawks looked back at him and they locked eyes.

Izuku was frozen, and he's not sure if it was from fear or not.

"This system is built on violence. Glorifies it. Revels in it. I figured you would understand why I'm so uncomfortable with that." He finished talking and suddenly he was smiling again, like nothing had happened. "Well! I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go crack a cold one and settle down for the evening." He stood, and slaped Izuku on the shoulder as he walked past. "Don't get too crazy while I'm gone."

"I won't," Izuku responded, but he was alone in the room.

.

That all was last night. It's now about 15:00 and Izuku regrets how late he stayed up. He's also running along with the other sidekicks to a bar? Apparently? It seems a little early for a bar skirmish but hey, Izuku isn't the drunk in question.

Tokoyami has been oddly quiet all day. Izuku passingly wonders if he should be worried, but he's also a little caught up in keeping his breath under control to worry too much about his classmate.

Hopefully the _thirteen hours_ they were out and running around yesterday is enough for Hawks to feel some kind of exhaustion today, Izuku isn't sure how much longer he can keep going.

Because _everything hurts._

He's going to be sore for _days._

.

They get to the bar and Obi manages to corner Hawks before he flies off again and they talk for a minute while Izuku, Tokoyami and the others start the cleanup process. This one isn't bad, thankfully. Izuku puts himself on people-duty, and runs around cataloguing injuries (there aren't very many, thankfully—one man with a deep cut above his eyebrow where he apparently got hit with a broken glass bottle and a few others with bruises).

Hawks doesn't actually fly away this time, but steps out to deal with police himself before calling something in on a handheld radio.

In the meantime, Obi comes up to Izuku and Tokoyami. "Hawks isn't technically on duty anymore, so he's agreed to call it a night. We might go out again in a few hours, but I think you both deserve a few minutes of rest."

"Oh thank God." As soon as Izuku says it he claps a hand over his mouth.

Obi laughs. "It's okay; it takes some time to get used to this lifestyle."

.

Izuku falls asleep in the common area as soon as they get back to the agency. He sits down, and the next thing he knows it's after 17, the sun is setting and someone is cooking something. He's still in his hero costume too. This whole thing is embarrassing.

Obi sees him sitting up and blinking the sleep away. "Hey, you're awake! We've almost got supper ready, if you want to join."

"Yeah, yeah." His voice croaks and isn't that just awful. He's _mortified_. "I'll be right there."

"Take your time, kid." Obi walks away and into the kitchen, leaving Izuku to stretch and try to wake himself up.

The internship is almost over, he realizes. He and Tokoyami have a late train out tonight, and they have to be back at school tomorrow morning. That's… it's crazy. The weekend _flew_ by. They have what? Four? Five hours left?

Did he even learn anything here?

It definitely wasn't what he was expecting in an internship. He was hoping to get more hands-on experience, but this _technically_ was a showcase of the daily grind. Just a lot of resolving small squabbles and doing cleanup and some legal work. Izuku never actually did any of the legal work, he just kinda stood there while the other sidekicks dealt with the police, but hey, at least he knows that procedure now?

So maybe this was just a study in how heroes deal with the actual legal system. It felt very grounding, that's for sure. Made Hawks (and other heroes by extension) look a little more like real people just doing a job, which is technically what this all is. That realization is probably good for him.

Makes the All Might situation feel slightly less… bad? He's just a guy that's showing up for work. He can only work for 90 minutes a day. That's a better thought, for sure—makes the whole thing feel a little less desperate.

All Might is still the symbol of peace though. Hopefully his status as a symbol means that while yes, he can't work so much anymore, his presence will still be a deterrent.

Izuku frowns. This whole thing is kind of weird, isn't it? Because yeah, heroes are just people showing up for work, but they're kind of not that? They have to _actively_ fight against people who would do them harm. Do the rest of the world harm. That's a lot of pressure to put on an individual. Especially because, well, they're all just human, aren't they?

"You're awake."

Izuku startles, and spins around to see Tokoyami standing next to the couch. "Yeah, I just woke up, what's going on?"

Tokoyami looks mad still, but a passive sort of mad? He definitely seemed more resigned to everything this morning, but that's not an indication of much. "Just dinner. It's almost done if you would like to help set up."

"Yeah, of course, give me a moment."

"Take your time." Tokoyami nods and walks out of the room.

Izuku finds his phone (on the floor, it must have fallen) and checks his notifications. A text from Mom asking how things are going and when is he going to get home (Good! He'll get to the station a little before midnight he thinks), a slurry of notifications from the group chat (he'll have to read through that tonight. Or maybe just ask Ei and Toshi in person how their internships went), and a couple disgruntled texts from Arai about how Stain hadn't made an appearance yet and she really wishes he would for the sake of her algorithm (the _math_ , Midoriya. I'll have to redo _all of it_ ).

He stands up, stretching again, and heads to the kitchen and dining area to help with place settings. Hawks wanted to go out again in an hour and a half or so, so most of the sidekicks are still around, though some did go home for the evening (or were released from duty for the day).

Tokoyami converses quietly with one of the sidekicks through the meal, and again Izuku is surprised by the jovial energy that encompasses the room. He really could get used to this.

Maybe he'll work for Hawks after he graduates before he strikes out on his own.

.

Hawk's emergency radio buzzes to life, a panicked voice coming through the heavy static.

" _We have a situation in Hosu, requesting backup from all available units. I repeat, we have a situation in Hosu, three kilometers south of the city center—"_

Hawks and the other sidekicks are already standing, running for support gear and costume pieces.

"— _Three city blocks are on fire, the threat is not contained—"_

"Usual travel formations, I've got the interns!" Hawks calls out, situating his goggles over his eyes.

"— _evacuations have begun, reinforcements needed in crowd and damage control—"_

Hawks tucks the radio into a pocket on his jacket and strips a couple large feathers, tossing them into the room where several sidekicks grab them and run out the door.

"— _three threats have been identified. They're inhuman and may posses multiple quirks. Proceed with caution."_

"Okay boys here's how this is going to go." Hawks says, as his sidekicks zip away into the night sky. "Tokoyami, I need you on my back, between my wings, wrap your arms around my neck and hold on for dear life. Midoriya, I'll hold you in front of me. Neither of you is allowed to be sick on me, got it?"

Izuku and Tokoyami both nod, exchanging glances.

"Good. Now saddle up, we don't have a moment to lose."

Hawks' jaw is set, his expression eerily similar to when Izuku spoke to him last night. If the situation already wasn't enough for Izuku to be worried, this certainly would have done it.

Tokoyami climbs onto Hawks' back and the hero grabs Izuku around the waist and then they're airborne.

Honestly, the whole setup would have been rather awkward if Izuku wasn't fearing for his life, but here we are.

Hawks must be traveling at his maximum speed, because Izuku finds himself increasingly thankful for the glass mask across his face, protecting him from the harsh, high speed wind that he can feel ripping across the top of his head. The city scape disappears below them as Hawks cuts across some forested area and then Izuku can see it.

Hosu spreads out beneath them much like Musutafu, a sprawling city center surrounded by comfortable suburbs.

The only difference is the bright orange light flaring up against the night sky.

Hawks curses, and loses elevation as they dive toward the fire.

"I'm going to drop you boys with my other sidekicks and see what I can do to help." Izuku can barely hear him over the roar of wind in his ears. "You don't have licenses so you're just going to be on crowd control. You _cannot_ use your quirks, do you understand?"

"I understand." Tokoyami sounds excited, but in that cool, calculating way that he always does. Izuku doesn't blame him.

Hawks moves one of his arms away from where he's got a hold on Izuku and touches an earpiece.

"Revive, come in. We've just reached the scene, status update." His arm is back around Izuku and he suddenly feels a lot less like he's going to die.

Hawks hums along to the voice in his ear.

"Copy. We'll be right with you," Hawks says, and then starts diving.

"Sir—! Wait!" Tokoyami sounds frantic.

Hawks immediately pulls out of the dive, and Tokoyami points toward an old oil rig, where two figures are silhouetted against the light of the fire. "That's Shigaraki and Kurogiri—the League of Villains."

Maybe it's just because they've spent a lot of time together lately, but Izuku almost hears Tokoyami's voice waver.

"Shit, fuck." Hawks takes a sharp turn and lands on the roof of a nearby building behind where the two villains are standing. Izuku and Tokoyami climb off his back. "I don't think they've seen us. Fucking hell, they're not getting involved, are they? They're just watching." Hawks puts a hand to his earpiece. "Revive, Transpose, I have eyes on the League of Villains. I won't be joining you immediately, but I am safe, over." Hawks has some kind of wild delight in his eyes. "This is one hell of an opportunity, boys."

"We can't do anything, though," Tokoyami says. "You're the number three hero and they both know me—if they see us we'll either be killed or they'll be gone before we can arrest or question them."

Hawks hums and taps his chin, thinking. He pulls out the radio. "Police backup request at 1400 south, 40 west, we have eyes on the League." He turns to Izuku. "You weren't at USJ, right?"

Izuku doesn't like where this is going. "Right."

"Hands man has never seen your face."

"Except at the sports festival?" Izuku offers. He's not sure if the villains would watch the sports festival, but he definitely got a lot of screen time.

Hawks glances between him and the two villains who still have their backs to the trio. "Here's the deal, Midoriya. They're going to be gone before the police get here, I know it, but we need some information from them and right now you're our best bet. Keep your mask on, hood up, and don't give them any information about yourself besides your hero name. Don't tell them where you live, how old you are, nothing. You're a kid who is disillusioned with the system and you want to join their operation, got it?"

Izuku swallows nervously. "What?"

"We'll be right here watching you the entire time, I promise. If things go sideways, I'm here and I _will_ get you out of there. You have authorization from me to use your quirk as long as you are in immediate danger." Hawks looks so earnest and Izuku hates that.

"So I just need to pretend to be a villain and what? Hope they don't recognize me?" he really hates this plan.

"Get as much information out of them as you can. How many people. Base of operations. Mission statement. Are they working with Stain. Literally anything they say to you will be new information for us, we know nothing about the League." Hawks pats him on the shoulder. "It'll just be a few minutes, and you look like a good liar to me."

"Is that supposed to be a compliment?"

Hawks almost laughs. It's more of a chuckle, really. "Trust me, that's one of my most valuable skills as a hero." He pulls a feather from his wing. "I'll propel you up with this, and then we'll be here watching the whole time. Three fingers in the air and we'll be up there to get you out. Ready?"

Izuku swallows. No. "As I'll ever be."

…

Kurogiri is watching Shigaraki fume about Stain and public appearances and what have you when he hears a soft whirring sound. And then there's a boy with them.

He activates his quirk almost reflexively as Shigaraki spins around, cursing and ready to dust whoever the intruder is.

"Wait! I'm on your side." The boy has his hands up, palms open. He's wearing some kind of dark red costume with metallic accents. A hood obscures most of his head, and the firefighter-style mask leaves only his eyes exposed. Still, he looks almost familiar. Kurogiri doesn't know from where.

"How the fuck did you find us?" Shigaraki's hand is still outstretched and his frame is tense. He could move to attack or retreat at any moment.

The boy chuckles grimly. "You aren't exactly subtle. I caught wind there were some inhuman, multi-quirked beasts in Hosu and well," he gestures to the burning city beyond their perch. "Y'all hiring?"

"Ah! So we did make an impact, excellent." Shigaraki sounds like an overly pleased child, and Kurogiri sighs.

"Who are you? Why do you want to join us?"

"My name is Zuku, and you could say that I was an overenthusiastic upstart who was burned by the system and wants to see it taken down. Sources say you guys are my best bet." His pose relaxes, one hand on his hip. Open.

Kurogiri can still tell he's scared.

Shigaraki either isn't thinking this through or is taking it at face value. Kurogiri has some skepticism, but he can't think of any other reason this child would be here.

"You want to… join us?" Shigaraki pulls his hand back.

"Yeah? Maybe. Depends." Zuku crosses his arms. "You tried to take out All Might at USJ, right? Why? And why this," he gestures to the burning city. "If you're trying to topple the structure, this seems like an inefficient way to do it."

Shigaraki hums and drums his fingers together. "I don't want to hear criticism from a child, you haven't even seen—"

"Fuck you, you don't know what I've seen. This isn't about that." Zuku's eyes narrow. "Do you even have a plan?"

"Of—of course I have a plan, you insolent brat!" The kid has only been here for about ninety seconds and already he's under Shigaraki's skin. Kurogiri wants so desperately to sigh outwardly.

"Really? It looks to me like a temper tantrum over Stain."

Shigaraki tenses, and though he can't see his mouth, Kurogiri can tell that Zuku is smiling.

"That's it, isn't it? He was getting more media time than you and you're mad about it."

"Did you come here just to mock me, boy?" Shigaraki's hand is out and he moves to attack. Zuku snaps and suddenly there is a small ball of flame flickering in his hand as he shifts into some kind of fighting stance.

Kurogiri moves between them. "Please, let's not do this—" Shigaraki relaxes (barely), and Zuku closes his fist to snuff the flame out. "You said you wanted to join us?"

Zuku glares at Shigaraki. "I did, yeah. But it seems like you aren't taking allies right now."

If Kurogiri could pinch the bridge of his nose, he definitely would. "We had a bad run-in with the hero killer earlier tonight; forgive us if we're a little on edge."

Zuku seems to relax at that. "He's not with you?"

"No." Shigaraki spits the word. "He's not with us. He's got a glory complex—he's not a real villain."

Zuku hums and taps the bottom of his mask. "You never answered my other question, why target All Might at USJ? I can't imagine the only reason is just that he's the biggest bad."

"It's about symbolism," Shigaraki grins. Kurogiri can see something in him. He was hoping their talk with Stain would give him more conviction than just 'we have to kill All Might,' so perhaps it will surface here. "He is the symbol of peace—destroying the symbol is as good as destroying the real thing! Just imagine the _havoc_ , Zuku." He's giggling by the end of it.

Zuku nods. "It makes sense. And then this here is just trying to what? Take media attention away from Stain?"

"Yes exactly! He's pesky, and ruining our good name."

Zuku snorts. "Did you have a good name to begin with?"

"We did break into Yuuei," Kurogiri says.

"Fair point."

In the distance, the whir of a helicopter approaches. Kurogiri sees it first. "We've been spotted."

"It appears so. Until next time, Zuku."

Zuku glances up at the helicopter. "How can I contact you?"

Shigaraki grins, his mouth stretching beyond the hand that covers it. "Oh, we'll be seeing you around, Zuku."

Zuku tenses, but quickly relaxes. Kurogiri is going to have to figure out where he knows this face. He and Shigaraki will have to talk later, he isn't sure if his companion has recognized the boy. "It's time to go, I'll drop you in a discreet location outside the disaster zone, Zuku," He says, beckoning the two of them toward his body. "We will be in contact."

Zuku nods. "Thank you."

Shigaraki steps through, followed by the boy, and Kurogiri teleports himself away to the sound of distant sirens.

…

" _Shit,_ did he just go through the portal?" Hawks jumps up from their hiding place. "Shit fuck can you track him?"

"No," Fumikage shakes his head. "I don't have that ability."

"Fuck!" Hawks touches his earpiece. "I lost visual on Midoriya Izuku, is there anyone in the vicinity with a tracking quirk?" He pauses, waiting for a response. "No? Fuck. Everyone keep their eyes open, he's about 165 cm, curly green hair, wearing a dark red hero costume. Fire quirk. Relay that."

Fumikage is irritated, to say the least. Of course he's worried about Midoriya, and of course he can see the logic of why Midoriya was chosen for this 'mission' over him, but honestly? He's angry about it. One of the villains has a transportation quirk! Hawks definitely should have considered this as a potential outcome and gotten some kind of radio or tracking device on Midoriya before allowing him to interact with the villains at all. Which, speaking of, was incredibly stupid and reckless—and come to think of it probably illegal? He knowingly put a minor, someone without a hero license or even an official enrollment in a heroics course, in _incredible_ danger.

Fumikage knows that he needs to stop thinking about it because the whole thing is just making him angry. For good reason, yes, but what's done is done and they just need to work on fixing it now.

It's comforting to know that he can end this arguably terrible internship experience with a lawsuit against the #3 hero, at least. He'll hold onto that thought to keep him sane, for now.

"I'm going to drop you with the heroes on evacuation and crowd control duty," Hawks says, scooping Fumikage up in the position he'd been carrying Midoriya in on their way over. "Behave yourself and keep your eyes peeled. I'm going to try to fix this."

He doesn't like this plan at all, but it's what he's been doing all weekend, he's used to it. At least this disaster is significantly more interesting. "Noted."

They circle once and Hawks lands in the crowd near a group of his sidekicks, among other Heroes and the quickly growing mass of panicked civilians.

Obi sees them land and runs over. "What happened—?"

"Long story I'll explain later, watch him and keep damage to a minimum, you know the drill." Hawks adjusts his goggles and moves to take off. "I'm going to look for Midoriya and help where I can." He jumps and is gone before any of them can reply.

Obi sighs. "Fantastic, as always. We're leading evacuees to a few secure locations, but I'm going to put you with Transpose's team. You can't legally use your quirk violently, but he's just working with damage control and we need someone like you over there."

Fumikage nods. "I'll do my best."

Obi cracks a smile. "You're a good kid. We're gonna miss you."

He almost wishes he could stay the same.

Ah well. The lawsuit is waiting for him. He'll do what he can now.

…

Izuku steps out of the swirling vortex that is Kurogiri's quirk into a dark alley, lit vaguely by the fires raging through the city.

"It was a pleasure meeting you, Zuku. We'll be in touch," the void says. Izuku nods and it disappears, leaving him alone in a foreign city.

"Fuck."

This has certainly turned into a difficult situation. Hopefully he learned enough that it'll be useful, and as much as he hates it, the League apparently is going to be in touch with him. Whatever that means. They don't even know who he is? Unless they do. God that thought is terrifying. With any luck they don't know enough about him to track him down and this whole thing will be water under the bridge.

Right now he's got to find some kind of hero because he needs to get back to Hawks and Tokoyami. They're all going to be concentrated around the mayhem, so he'll just head that way.

He takes off at a steady jog toward the fires. Once he gets there he'll see if someone has a radio or if they know where Hawks or his sidekicks are.

If not then he'll just hang out until afterward, surely all the legal procedures will bring all the heroes into a similar location and then he'll be able to find his mentor.

Unfortunately, his plan isn't working out so well. He's in an unfamiliar city that has the worst city planning of any place he's ever seen. He's trying to cut a straight path toward the fires. That should be easy enough, but the streets are such a twisting mess that he's finding himself cutting through more alleyways than he's comfortable with, and even then the tall, dark buildings sometimes obscure the lights he's trying to follow and he ends up coming out on the other side having somehow turned himself around.

He curses. He could maybe share his location—he thinks he has Tokoyami's cell number? It would mean having to stay put until someone can come find him, and he doesn't particularly want to do that, forgive him for being stubborn.

He ducks into another alleyway and freezes.

None of the other three people here have seen him, not yet. They all seem to be a little preoccupied with each other at the moment, but one stray sound from Izuku and it's over for him.

As quietly as he can (he thanks the support team that the soft fabric of his costume keeps it from rustling) he pulls out his phone and shares his location with all of his contacts. His eyes are glued to the scene in front of him.

Pro Hero Native is slumped, seemingly paralyzed, against one of the cold, brick walls of the alley, closest to where Izuku is standing. Farther down is Iida, laying belly-down on the ground.

Stain, the Hero Killer, stands above him, one of his long blades shoved into Iida's shoulder, and his wide, inhuman grin dripping with malice.


	19. The One with Internships part 3

(A/N) Art by jargogle_defined on insta, go check it out it's very nice p/B5BJLyDAB9x/?igshid=13tum42o94hhs

* * *

Torino Sorahiko wasn't planning on traveling to the city when he woke up today, but he also hadn't realized he was out of his favorite Taiyaki until it was too late, and they only sell it in one specific store on the north end of the retail district of Hosu. Of course, he could settle for a lesser variety, but that would mean lowering his standards and while Sorahiko has become a lazy man in his old age, he certainly isn't a man with standards _that_ low.

So grabbing his cane, a light jacket to block the wind chill from his old bones, and a satchel, he heads for the train station.

…

He has to do something. He has to move. Why is Iida even here, what is he doing?

Oh.

 _Oh._

He was just using the internship to get close to Stain—he's on a vengeance mission isn't he? God that's so stupid, but Izuku definitely understands. He understands but that does not mean he likes it.

He really wishes he would have juiced Arai for more information about the hero killer. Izuku isn't even sure he knows this guy's quirk!

Stain twists his blade, lodged in Iida's shoulder and the boy screams, shaking Izuku out of his daze. Plan or no plan, he's got to do something.

Before he can think, his feet are moving and he's running straight for the hero killer. His footfalls echo louder against the pavement than he thinks they should. They definitely draw attention.

Stain turns just as Izuku is almost on him. Izuku snaps and tries to shove a handful of fire in his face (it's not like he had time to come up with a better plan, sue him). Stain jumps out of the way and Izuku misses, but he takes his blade with him and is now no longer standing over Iida, so Izuku will take his victories where he can. He hovers by Iida's head and shifts into a fighting stance.

"What are you doing here?" Iida yells at him.

"I'm saving you, what does it look like?" Izuku grits his teeth. "What are _you_ doing here?" he doesn't dare take his eyes off the hero killer, who looks almost amused at Izuku's arrival.

He's got a look in his eyes too, and it chills Izuku to the bone. This isn't like when he was talking to the league of villains. That was scary, but this is different. This is the face of a killer. He's already sent out his location to whoever will get it—not that he has any faith in that. If it was just Iida here he might be able to orchestrate an escape, but with Native in the equation that isn't the most likely option.

"It doesn't matter, this isn't your fight!" Iida's voice trembles, Izuku can hear the pain in it.

"I'm making it my fight!" God, if the situation were different Izuku would want to smack Iida. 'Not your fight' his ass. "Isn't that what All Might always says? It's a hero's duty to stick your nose where it doesn't belong."

Stain, who hadn't moved until that point, grins, his eyes lighting up. "That's a noble sentiment for sure, but it is my duty to kill these two."

"Bullshit."

At least Stain looks caught off guard by it. Maybe it buys him a few seconds.

"It's not your duty to kill anyone, but it is my duty to save these two." He might die tonight. _Don't think about it._ "Iida, can you move?"

Stain's eyes narrow, and his grip on his katana shifts. Oh no.

"No, he cut me and I'm paralyzed."

Okay, so don't get cut. "I'll protect you."

Maybe Iida starts to protest, but Stain is moving toward him and Izuku can't hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears. He really wishes he had more training with his support item.

He sees the blade as less of an object and more of flash of light. He ducks under it just in time and makes a jab at the hero killer's side before darting behind him and spinning so his back isn't to the most dangerous criminal in Japan.

Stain's eyes are on him immediately and he's smiling something awful. If that can be considered a smile.

The fires are going to start in his hands. He can't just throw them, and Stain isn't going to wait for him to do some acrobatics to get the momentum he needs going.

Stain lunges at him again and Izuku slips past him on the other side, narrowly avoiding contact with the katana. He lights a fire in his palm and uses whatever momentum he has to jump. Pulling his head down and his legs up, he kicks off the wall and pulls the fire toward his feet and then around as he spins.

It's only been seconds, but that feels like too long to have his back to Stain. He lands hard on the concrete, rolling. His bicep stings and he freezes. He can't move.

Stain's tongue is still on his blade, a wild light in his eyes, the cloth on his shoulder smoldering where Izuku's flame hit. "I don't think I'll kill you, no, you're worth keeping alive."

"Hey! Hey what the fuck does that mean?!" It's a futile effort maybe, but Izuku is paralyzed and the hero killer is walking toward his classmate and they can use any borrowed time they can get.

Stain laughs, and it's a horrible, wet sound. "You know the true meaning of heroism. These two? They are a plague on our society that will only fester until the world is being run by a hoard of villains." He isn't moving very quickly and he's swaying on his feet. There's a wild light in his eyes as he lifts his katana above Iida to deliver a mortal blow.

The alleyway is engulfed in flame, sending Stain reeling.

"I hope I'm not too late."

Izuku's heart soars.

"You need to be less cryptic in your texts, Midoriya. I almost didn't come." Todoroki is standing at the head of the alleyway, near where Iida is lying. The flames on his left side are flickering out, but he maintains a fighting stance.

"Todoroki!" Iida seems just as surprised as Izuku, but in a definitively less pleased way.

"His quirk paralyzes you—I think by ingesting blood," Izuku yells. He feels so useless here.

Todoroki nods. "Keep my distance then." His left side ignites again. "The pros will be here in just a few minutes, I don't have to hold you off for long."

"Three children? This is turning out to be quite a night!" Stain lunges for Todoroki, katana outstretched. Todoroki sends up a wall of ice, trapping the katana in it, just as a throwing knife grazes his cheek.

Stain's face is next to his almost instantly, his scarred tongue far too close for comfort.

Todoroki ignites, forcing him to recoil. He bounds away, landing somewhere near Izuku. "Fire and ice, eh? Making things a little tricky, aren't you?"

"I should hope so." Todoroki grimaces, a drop of blood streaming down his face.

Stain is on him again—god, he moves so fast—and Todoroki counters with a swipe of his right hand. A massive iceberg forms between them.

"Rule number one!" Stain shouts gleefully, pulling his katanas rapidly through the sheet of ice. "Never reduce your visibility on your foe!" the ice shatters.

Todoroki swipes with his left arm, a stir of fire following his hand. Stain is forced backwards, and Todoroki cries out in pain as two throwing knives dig into his arm. The fire is out instantly and he recoils, clutching at his arm where blood trickles out around the knives. Thankfully, he doesn't pull them out.

Stain is on him again, and Izuku moves.

 _He moves!_

He's on his feet and his arms are up in the pseudo-archery position before he can really process that he's not paralyzed anymore. "Duck!" and he snaps, the small ball of fire rolling past his arm and rocketing toward the hero killer. He starts running.

It hits Stain square in the back and he spins around, teeth bared, his shirt smoldering.

Izuku knows he's still bleeding just hopefully not as much. He snaps, holding down the ignition and pulling on his quirk with his other hand. The fire grows and he spins, hurtling it toward the hero killer. He dodges, but at least it's forcing him to move away from Todoroki and Iida.

Izuku skids to a stop at Todoroki's side and turns back around, panting.

"You can move."

It's so matter-of-fact that Izuku can't help but to huff a laugh. "I can move."

"Is there a time limit then?"

"No, he was the last to be paralyzed," Native says, obviously straining against his own paralysis.

Izuku nods. "So it's either the amount ingested, intent, or blood type?"

"Looks like you guessed it, boys." Stain maybe looks a little worse for the wear, but he's still on his feet and very much a threat. "It's blood type. My quirk is just unfortunately weak to you."

Izuku glances at Todoroki's very very injured arm, careful not to let the hero killer out of sight for too long. "You've got too much exposed blood."

"I hadn't noticed," Todoroki says through gritted teeth.

Izuku does laugh that time. The smile doesn't leave his face as he shifts into a fighting stance. "I'll take close range and keep him away from you. Cover me from behind. We just need to hold him off for a little longer."

Todoroki nods. "It's dangerous, but I don't see another option. You can rely on my quirk if you need to."

Later, Izuku will process that, but for now he grits his teeth into a devilish grin. "Got it. Together—together we can save them."

Izuku and Stain seem to leap at each other at the same time. Todoroki sends wave of fire away from his left foot and Izuku latches onto it with his quirk. He jumps, spinning to propel it and lands in a hard roll, ducking under the wave of fire and the hero killer's blade.

He's on his feet again and he snaps, shoving an open, fiery palm against Stain's side. The hero killer turns on him. Before he can strike, a wall of ice springs up between them, giving Izuku just enough time to bounce back out of harm's way.

The ice shatters and Todoroki yells, just in time for Izuku to see the smaller blade hurtling his way. Instinctively he pulls his hand up to block it (bad idea) and thankfully it just grazes the gauntlet on his right wrist.

Izuku coughs as the sharp smell of propane overcomes him, but has enough presence of mind to duck and roll out from under Stain's next attack.

That's one fuel source down. He grits his teeth.

"Todoroki!"

Another wave of fire whips his way and Izuku pulls it as hard and fast as he can. He aims right for Stain's chest.

Somewhere, he wonders what would happen if they actually killed him.

Maybe thankfully, Stain dodges the worst of it. It does push him farther back in the alley, away from the other victims.

Izuku's breath is coming ragged in his throat, and he buckles down, fists raised.

Stain lunges again, and again Izuku drops to roll under the attack. Stain was ready for it and another blade is waiting for him.

He bites his tongue to suppress a scream as the knife digs into his thigh. He's got to keep moving, he has to get away.

" _Todo—"_ his words are caught up in the wave of fire that he pulls toward himself (toward the wound. He has to stop the bleeding he can't let Stain have it). He can't stand up. The loose gravel digs into his hands and knees.

It looks like he's going to be testing the durability of this costume.

The flames engulf him, and he screams.

The knife is still wedged in his thigh but Stain can't touch him if he's on fire.

He grits his teeth against the pain, and blinks back the tears. This probably doesn't hurt as bad now as it's going to later.

Shock is one hell of a drug.

He pushes himself to his feet, the flames still twisting and winding around his body, adhering to the costume but unable to creep through.

He's never been able to find a limit to his quirk, but perhaps today he will.

He lowers himself into a fighting stance and locks eyes with the hero killer.

"Stop, please…!" Iida's voice is ragged, desperate. "You can't do this! I took on Ingenium's name to avenge him—this isn't your fight!"

Izuku runs, as much as it can be called that, and Stain pulls his blades.

"You want us to stop?" Todoroki yells.

Stain lunges, but Izuku jumps (it's sloppy, his leg lags).

"You said you were carrying Ingenium's legacy, but I've never seen him look like that!" Todoroki spares a glace to Iida, still paralyzed.

His foot comes down on Stain's shoulder and they both hit the ground, Izuku rolling off. The knife snags on one of his gauntlets and he stumbles as pain sears through his leg. His back is to Stain for a second too long.

"If you want to stop this, then stand up! Stand up, and do _right_ by your brother's name!" Todoroki yells.

Stain moves on Izuku. He turns and tries to dodge, but he is too slow, or else Stain is too fast. Izuku swings a flaming arm out toward the hero killer. Trying ward him off or at least do some damage.

The knife is embedded in his forearm before he sees Stain move. His quirk falters, and the flames encompassing him snuff out.

"I don't want to kill you, kid, but you're making this really difficult." Stain pulls the knife out and Izuku crumples to the ground, paralyzed.

Shit, this really isn't good. Where are the pros?

Stain turns, and lunges toward Todoroki, who tries to counter with a swath of flame. Stain ducks under it, one of his blades poised to take Todoroki's arm off at the shoulder.

"Didn't anyone tell you that relying too much on your quirk makes you sloppy?" Stain hisses, some kind of cruelly delighted glint in his eyes.

Izuku sees Todoroki's eyes widen as the realization hits him.

There's a flurry of movement as Iida stands, kicks on his quirk and knocks Stain away, positioning himself between Todoroki and the hero killer. Izuku almost didn't see it happen.

"Iida!" Izuku can't help but let the immense relief flood into his voice.

Iida's eyes are dark. "I'm sorry, this had nothing to do with either of you."

"Iida, so help me if you try to do anything 'noble'," Todoroki growls, clutching at his bleeding arm with an icy hand.

"No! You've bled too much for me, I won't, I can't, let this continue!

"You talk big, but a person's nature is not so easily changed." Stain adjusts his grip on his katanas and leaps up as Iida charges him.

It obviously wasn't what Iida was expecting, because he skids and tries to spin. His chin shoots up to where Stain lands against the coarse brick wall and then pushes off of. One of his blades shoots downward and Iida narrowly dodges it. Stain finds purchase on an outcropped windowsill and another blade comes hurtling down. It gets stuck in a sheet of ice, missing Iida by centimeters.

Izuku glances over, and Todoroki is definitely shaking. His hair is matted against his forehead and it looks like the blood on his arm has clotted around the two blades, so they must not have hit anything vital, thank god.

"Todoroki! Can you regulate temperature?" Iida yells

Stain comes crashing down through the sheet of ice. Iida barely dodges, taking his jump away as an opportunity to roundhouse kick Stain in the back, sending him flying.

"This is a poor time to ask that question," Todoroki says through clenched teeth.

Stain pulls himself into some kind of tuck and uses the momentum to bounce off the opposite wall and then he's headed back at Iida.

Izuku doesn't see Stain throw it, but he does see the knife pierce Iida's hand, pinning him to the wall. A sheet of ice rushes across the ground away from Todoroki and Stain skids on it, buying Iida a few more precious seconds.

The pros should be here by now! Izuku strains against his paralysis and a finger twitches. Good! Only a few more seconds and he should be back on his feet. He can only hope that those few seconds won't make him too late.

"I need you to freeze my legs without covering the exhaust pipes!" Iida yells, and grabs the blade to pull it out of his hand.

"You couldn't have said that when you were _over here?!_ " Todoroki yells back, frantic.

"Just do whatever you were going to do!" Izuku pushes against the paralysis, but he's not free yet. "I've got you!"

Iida rips the blade from his hand and blood spirts out of it, black against the clean white ice on the ground. Stain dives for him, tongue out.

Izuku's hands fly into the air as soon as soon as the paralysis lets him go. "Duck!" he snaps, and the flame goes shooting across his right arm and toward Iida and Stain. They both jump out of the way and the fire sizzles out against the cold brick.

"Midoriya, Now!" Iida yells, and the flames on his exhaust pipes glow brighter.

"I've got it!" he yanks with his quirk and the soft blue flames zip toward him. "Todoroki!"

" _Go!"_ The fire coming off of Todoroki isn't huge or magnificent. They're all way too tired for that. But Izuku pulls it toward his chest and it merges with the steam of blue coming from Iida.

Iida starts running the same time Izuku starts jumping.

They're both airborne for a moment. For that moment, everything is quiet.

The stream of fire collides with Stain alongside Iida's foot, and the hero killer crumples to the ground, unconscious.

Izuku lands and looks down at the body at his feet—bruised, burned (not the worst Izuku has seen, though), and defeated.

"Hey." It takes way more effort than he wants to form the word. His breath is coming in heavy gaps and he can't quite feel his two stab wounds, one of which is bleeding freely, soaking his costume. "We did it, guys."

Todoroki walks over to them and looks at Stain's unconscious form. "We did."

Izuku breaks into some kind of grin. "We're alive!"

Iida's face is dark. "You… shouldn't have put your lives on the line like that for me."

"Not this again," Izuku says, frowning.

"We're going to be heroes, Iida." Todoroki says. "It's literally part of the job."

Iida sets his jaw, but doesn't respond.

Behind them, the Pro Hero Native stirs from his paralysis and pushes himself shakily to his feet. "Are you boys okay? I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help—I'm the pro here and I had to sit by and watch you all save me."

"I have two knives in my arm but otherwise I'm peachy." Todoroki deadpans.

Native does not look amused. "We need to get you to some doctors—but first let's make sure the hero killer isn't going anywhere." He moves past them and starts pulling knives out of the folds of Stain's clothes. Izuku bends down with him, wincing against the knife in his thigh as the pain sets in.

There are so many knives on Stain's person. More than Izuku thought a reasonable person should be able to carry. They finish disarming him and Todoroki produces some kind of small, compact chord from a pack on his belt and they get to work binding.

"You have a wound on your leg," Native says, looking at Izuku. "Here, let me carry you."

"I'm fine—" Izuku starts to protest.

"You saved me, the least I can do is carry you off the scene." It doesn't look like Native is going to budge on this issue.

Todoroki freezes a path to pull Stain along, and Native carries Izuku on his back out of the alley. They reach the street just as a squad of other heroes approaches them.

Izuku is just close to Todoroki to hear him mutter "Just in time, and he didn't even come himself."

Izuku snorts.

"We received a call for backup—Native are you okay?"

"There are kids here! They're injured, someone call an ambulance!"

The small bunch of heroes crowds around them.

"Is that the hero killer?"

"Give them some room, please!" Native calls out, setting Izuku down on the pavement, and shooing the other heroes a few paces back.

(There's a civilian with them, or he's in civilian clothes at least? He's elderly. He stands a few paces back, watching the scene with disdain.)

Izuku's head is spinning. His arm is still bleeding he thinks. He's not sure how much blood he's lost. Or if this fit of dizziness is from that or from coming off the adrenaline high. He doesn't realize someone is speaking to him.

"Huh? What?"

"Injuries, are you okay?" the hero talking to him is a middle aged man with soft, greying hair and a kind face. "I have a limited healing quirk, I can help."

"What?" Izuku shakes his head. "I'm fine, I've just got… my thigh? My arm too I think. I have a little cut on my upper arm. Stain used it to paralyze me the first time."

The hero smiles at him. "Hey it's okay, we've got you." He reaches for the knife in Izuku's thigh.

Izuku snaps and smacks his hand away. His eyes are wide and his breath is suddenly labored. "You can't touch that—! I cauterized it so it doesn't bleed but if you touch it then it will and _it can't bleed_."

The hero pulls his hand back. "I'm sorry, I'll be careful of that."

Izuku can't panic here, he can't. He's going to but he can't.

" _Duck!"_ someone yells. Izuku doesn't quite hear them over the rush of wind in his ears as the ground drops out from under him.

He's airborne?

Huh.

Something has him by his middle. Something with big wings and claws. If it drops him, that'll be the end for him.

He can see the ground where the heroes are standing. They all look a little shell shocked. He doesn't blame them.

There's a whir between them and something jumps for him. Izuku flinches, but the person jumps above him and then all three of them are hurtling toward the ground.

Izuku tenses, but the thing holding him tumbles in the air and he isn't the first to hit the ground. He is released from the claws and rolls out of harm's way onto the pavement, the fabric of his gloves tearing where he drags his fingers.

Stain is standing, very much alive, knives embedded in the _thing's_ exposed brain.

"I'm not just trying to rid society of heroes without a moral backbone." His breath is ragged and his words are wet. "No," he locks eyes with Izuku. "My purge extends to villains who wreak havoc for havoc's sake." He stands and staggers, barely. Only enough that Izuku can see it.

"I will not be stopped here!" he yells back at the group of heroes, all too shell shocked to have made any move forward. "This mission cannot be silenced! Not until this society has been rid of fake heroes akin to the lot of you!"

Izuku barely sees it, he's frozen in place (metaphorically, thankfully), but Endeavor arrives amidst the crowd of heroes at the other end of the street. Someone holds him back before he can attack.

Stain adjusts his grip on the dual katanas in his hands. "So come at me, you fakes! You'll never stop me! Only the true hero, All Might, can kill me!" he takes a step forward and freezes in place.

All is quiet. Even the calamity raging in the inner city feels far away.

Izuku pushes himself to his knees. Stain doesn't move. He could investigate, he supposes.

He doesn't want to get closer.

Some of the heroes break away from the group and run his way.

The first hero to reach him is the elderly man in civilian clothes (he must have some kind of speed quirk). As he's looking Izuku over for additional damages, he mutters, "This young and already neck deep in trouble? You're just like Toshinori, you are."

"All Might?" the word is out before Izuku can stop himself. "I mean Yagi? Yagi Toshinori?" he can feel his face heating up as he tries desperately to backpedal.

The man grabs him by the collar. "How do you know that? Who told you, what is your relation?"

"I don't! I don't know anything—I mean, not really, I swear. He's dating my mom kind of but just as Yagi and he told me he was a retired hero and I tried to look him up and one thing led to another and he doesn't know that I know and it's really just a hunch—" he definitely has tears in his eyes as his throat is racked with some kind of dry sob.

The other heroes are close enough now to hear them, and the man glances back at them, and looses his grip on Izuku's shirt. "You need to tell him at some point, boy. And…" he sighs, "keep an eye on him for me, alright?"

"Who are you?" Izuku is trying desperately to choke back the tears.

"An old teacher of his, friend of Nana. Retired hero, Gran Torino." He grabs one of Izuku's hands. "Here let me see this—that's a nasty cut you've got there."

Izuku nods as the other heroes fill in around them, Some of them come to him and help him to his feet, a couple investigate the hero killer while one kicks at the winged beast to see if it's really dead.

"He's out cold," one of the heroes says, tapping Stain's body on the shoulder. "Not breathing or anything—that's one hell of a way to die."

…

Izuku, Todoroki and Iida are all admitted to the hospital for their injuries. Izuku and Todoroki get off pretty easy with stitches (some internal and some external, in Izuku's case), while Iida is admitted for minor surgery to mend his shoulder, which was damaged extensively.

They're all being kept overnight, and will be discharged tomorrow morning.

Hawks and Tokoyami found him pretty early, in the whole process, though they were shooed out of the room so that the doctors could give him stitches in peace. Hawks was admitted to the hospital room Todoroki and Izuku (and Iida, once he gets out of surgery) are staying in.

He pulls up a chair by Izuku's bed, where he's lying, his arm and thigh bandaged and his back supported by a hodgepodge stack of pillows and blankets so he can sort of sit up without trying to figure out the bed adjustment situation.

"Izuku you had me worried sick, you can't just go jumping through portals like that, good fuck."

Izuku crosses his arms and winces when his bad one brushes up against his chest. "It wasn't my idea to go up there in the first place. And besides, what else was I going to do? Say 'nah, I don't need a ride down because the number three hero is sitting over there and is gonna come pick me up'?"

Hawks sighs and drags a hand down his face. He's still in costume and his wings are a lot thinner than they were at the beginning of the night. Izuku thinks he probably needs a nap. "Okay fair, I'll give you that. I need to know everything now. What did you say, what did they say, what did you learn?"

Izuku glances over to where Todoroki is laying in his hospital bed opposite Izuku, browsing his phone and apparently unaffected by the present conversation. "They didn't recognize me, you were right. And uh, they had talked to the hero killer earlier in the evening—not long before I got there I think? Apparently it didn't go well and hands man, what's his name? He was really on edge about that whole interaction. The whole Hosu situation was their doing, definitely, if the multi-quirked beasts weren't enough to go on, but it was a publicity stunt. He was mad that Stain was getting more media time? I think?" Izuku shakes his head. "That's pretty much all I got out of them. I asked how I could contact them and they wouldn't tell me. Just that 'they'd be in contact' which I don't really like because it means that if they are in contact with me again that they know who I am and that I'm a Yuuei student and—"

Hawks has a hand on his knee. Izuku looks up at him. "Hey, kid. You did good, alright? You did great."

Izuku swallows. "Thanks?"

Hawks sits back, taking his hand off Izuku and running it through his hair. "I want to apologize to you. I uh, I put you in a lot of danger tonight. It was incredibly irresponsible of me, as your mentor, especially because I didn't give you much choice in the matter either. If you had gotten hurt—goddammit, I take full responsibility for this. I'm not particularly interesting in being a nurturer or anything, but that doesn't excuse how recklessly I treated your life, and I apologize."

Izuku honestly has no idea what to say. "It's not okay, exactly," He glances at Todoroki while he says it, "but I think I know why you did it." The other boy makes no indication that he noticed that Izuku is using his words. "I think I would rather have not done that at all, but it did lead me to find Iida and save him from the hero killer, so I think maybe it balanced out in the end."

"Oh yeah! What was up with that? I got there just as they were loading up the ambulances and I don't think anyone there had the full story, but what happened?"

"Er," god, he's exhausted. They haven't had to deal with legal issues yet, so Izuku really isn't sure what the status on that situation is. He figured they would have taken statements by now, especially from him and Todoroki. "The void one said he'd drop me off in a discreet location, and he did. I stepped through the portal into an alleyway and figured if I ran toward the commotion that maybe I could find a hero to flag you down. And while I was going I ran into Stain and the others and we fought? And won apparently." Izuku shakes his head. "I'm too tired to give you a play by play."

"No no that's okay that's. hm." Hawks rubs his chin. "It's quite the coincidence. Are you sure it wasn't intentional on the League's part?"

"I don't think so? Uh, they were trying to take media attention away from Stain, they clearly didn't like him. If they knew that he was going to kill or attack someone tonight I don't think they would have staged their whole thing on the same day, or else it would have looked like they were covering for him, right?"

"You make a good point."

The door to the room opens, and a nurse clears his throat. "This room isn't open to visitors for a moment sir—uh, we'll need you to step outside for a minute."

"Of course! I've got to get Tokoyami home anyway, I'll be back as soon as I can, Midoriya."

"Thanks…"

The door closes behind the two of them and Izuku and Todoroki are left in silence.

"So." The silence doesn't last for long. "How much of that was I supposed to hear?" Todoroki asks, sitting up to face Izuku.

"I'm not sure? I don't think it will—or even can—go to the media so it's not going to be public knowledge or anything."

Todoroki nods. "I take it Hawks set you up to talk to the league?"

"Yeah." Izuku runs his non-injured arm (there is a tiny cut on his upper arm but that hardly counts) through his hair. "It wasn't a pleasant experience, I'll tell you that. I was scared out of my mind the whole time."

Todoroki nods. "Understandable. They said they'd be in contact?"

"Mmhm."

Todoroki narrows his eyes. "I won't tell anyone. But if you ever get into a pinch again, send me a less cryptic message, got it?"

Izuku almost smiles. "Got it."

The door opens again and Iida is wheeled in by a different nurse. He looks like he had been protesting the wheelchair he's currently sitting in, but is resigned to it at this point (and is probably still a little high on anesthetics). The nurse helps him into the bed next to Izuku's, adjusts it so he's sitting up and situates him, asking him about comfort and giving him instructions not to play with the stitches or strain his arm which currently hangs in a sling.

She stands back from Iida's bed and addresses the three boys. "Some people from the sheriff's office will be in in a minute. I know it's late, but I promise you all can sleep as soon as they leave."

"It's okay, we're okay." Izuku tries to smile but he's not exactly trying to hide the exhaustion making his voice croak.

She nods and backs out of the room. Here comes the legal stuff. Izuku was hoping they could maybe put it off for a little longer, he's very tired.

A couple people walk into the room, one of them literally ducking past the door frame. The tallest one is wearing a dark suit with a white and black spotted tie. He has the head of a beagle. Izuku chides himself for staring.

"Sorry to drop in on you all so late," he says. "If you can understand, we've had quite a mess on our hands the last few hours. My name is Tsuragamae Kenji, and I am the chief of police for Hosu and the surrounding districts.

"We have already taken statements from the heroes who found the three of you, as well as Native, the pro hero the three of you, if I understand correctly, saved."

"Are you here to take our statements?" Todoroki asks, sitting up. His feet kick off the edge off the bed, his toes curled in and his legs rigid. Izuku can see it, but it's probably hidden from the officers' eyes by Iida's bed.

"Not exactly," Tsuragamae says. "You boys have put us and yourselves in a tricky situation, so I came to offer you the choice on what do to with that. You are familiar with quirk regulation laws?"

Oh no, Izuku knows where this is going. He nods anyway.

"Good. So you all know that what you did tonight was illegal."

Izuku winces, but Todoroki's head snaps up. "We didn't have a choice though. What did you want us to do? Stand by and let innocent people die because some _law_ said we couldn't save them?"

Tsuragamae puts a hand up as if to calm Todoroki, who definitely isn't having it. "That's really twisted, saying you would rather have the letter of the law preserved and people dead."

"I had authorization to use my quirk, surely that will help somewhat," Izuku offers. He knows they all broke the law—Stain is dead, after all—but maybe they can still swing this so they _don't_ all get arrested, or worse, expelled.

"Oh?" Tsuragamae looks surprised about that, actually. Maybe he hadn't talked to Hawks? Or maybe this was confirmation that Hawks is keeping everything with the league under wraps.

That's far more likely, actually. Izuku is going to have to lie his way out of this, isn't he? "Uh yeah, I got separated from Hawks, who I was interning with. He uh, he said I had permission to use my quirk if I was in immediate danger."

"I see. Perhaps that exonerates you, but your friends here still acted illegally. The story hasn't broken to the media yet, as far as the world at large knows, the hero killer is still alive. Of course, once the news breaks that the hero killer is dead and that you three, however unintentionally, dealt the final blow, we will have to take you to court for unlawful quirk use and vigilante action resulting in a death. You are juveniles, so while the media will desperately want to cover the story, your trial won't be broadcast. Your best case scenario here is that while you will be lauded as heroes by society at large and you will have that fifteen minutes of fame, your enrollment in heroics courses will be reevaluated and you will be barred from ever receiving any kind of heroics license.

"That is, of course, assuming the courts find you innocent in Stain's death." Tsuragamae's voice is devoid of any emotion.

Izuku tries to swallow the lump in his throat. He might get off easy here because he had some authorization to use his quirk, but this doesn't look good for Iida or Todoroki.

"You said we have another option." Iida says quietly as he looks down at his uninjured hand, lying in his lap.

"You do." Tsuragamae's voice almost picks up. "With the exception of a handful of heroes, all who could be sworn to secrecy, no one knows exactly what happened tonight. Who is to say that Stain's burn wounds were not caused by Endeavor, who arrived on the scene, intercepted and incapacitated the hero killer, and saved the three of you, who were there by coincidence, in the process."

"Our choice is between what? Glory and actually continuing to live?" Izuku asks.

"You could say it that way. The three of you did break the law. Perhaps this is my way of saying thank you for doing what our police force could not."

"Some thank you." Todoroki scoffs.

"You have to understand, if we let one instance of vigilantism slide, our agency would fall apart. We would never be able to enforce it after this."

"I accept." Iida is still looking down. "I— I can't let Stain wipe Ingenium out completely. I need to be able to carry on his legacy."

Tsuragamae looks between Izuku and Todoroki expectantly.

"I'll," Izuku glances at Todoroki, who isn't looking at him. "I'll take the deal."

"Me too."

"Then it's settled! I'll keep the media out of your hair as much as possible, and we'll be going so you boys can get some sleep. You've had a very long day, and for what it's worth, I am grateful to you." Tsuragamae bows, just slightly, and ducks out of the room, followed by his men.

The second the door closes, Todoroki lets out a deep sigh. "He's going to hate this."

"Who?" Izuku asks.

"Endeavor. Getting the credit for a fight he didn't win? It's going to drive him insane."

Izuku huffs. "He deserves it though. Not the credit, just the frustration."

"Maybe." Todoroki is quiet, and starts situating himself for the night.

There will probably be a nurse in here soon, but Izuku takes the opportunity to start disassembling the mountain of pillows and blankets he'd made between himself and the wall so he could sit up comfortably. It's a long process, his arm and leg are still very tender (whatever painkiller they gave him is definitely wearing off) and he's trying to avoid straining them as much as possible.

"I'm sorry." Iida's voice, though quiet, is loud against the soft rustling of blankets. He hasn't moved.

"Iida…"

"No!" Iida's head snaps up to lock eyes with Izuku. "I don't want to hear it from you, I don't want…" he draws in a ragged breath, as if he's trying not to cry. "I was stupid, and reckless, and because of that you all had to—"

"We didn't have to do anything." Todoroki cuts him off.

"We're your friends, even if we weren't obligated, of course we would jump in for you."

"You're not my friends, though!" there are tears welling in his eyes, and if Izuku isn't careful he's going to start crying too. Sympathetic crier and all.

"Classmates then! That should be enough to save your life." Todoroki sounds irritated. With good reason, though.

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point, Iida?" Izuku asks. He tries to sound sympathetic, he really does.

" _I_ was reckless—it was a petty revenge mission, I made a selfish choice and I needed to deal with the consequences of it."

Oh, Izuku is definitely angry now. "And we were supposed to what? Let you die?"

"Maybe!" Iida wipes at the tears on his face with his one good hand. "Maybe you should have! You shouldn't have been forced to fix my mistakes for me."

"You made an irrational decision because you were emotional," Todoroki says. "You don't deserve to die for that."

"You can't say that!" Iida doesn't quite yell, but he comes close. "I walked into that alley fully intending to kill Stain—you heard what he said, people can't just change their nature."

"Stain was _wrong,_ Iida. You're a child! We're all just kids; saying that we're completely morally sound is preposterous! It's not," Izuku shakes his head. "It's not right. Yes you made a bad decision but that doesn't make you a bad person."

"You don't know that!" Iida sobs. "You don't know me—!"

" _Then_ _let me know you_!" Izuku doesn't remember when he started crying. "You've done nothing but push me away, push everyone away since this started. I want to know you Iida, I want to believe you are a good person, that this whole thing was a fluke born out of misguided grief. I want to believe you are more than this!" He wipes frantically at the tears.

Iida doesn't respond immediately. Hopefully that's an improvement.

"I've been in class with you for nearly two months, Iida," Todoroki says. He speaks quietly, as if careful not to disturb the emotional tension hanging in the air. "I know I don't know you well, but you've never done anything to make me think poorly of you. I gave the class presidency to you for a reason, and you have done nothing but good with it."

It's then when Izuku realizes that Iida is weeping softly. "You don't have to believe us yet." Izuku says. It's something a therapist said to him when he was younger and it seems applicable now. "You can hold onto this and believe it when you're ready. It's enough just to listen.

"But I promise you're not a bad person. You didn't deserve to die there. If I was sent back, knowing how that fight would end, I would still jump in and save you, a thousand times over."


End file.
